Ocean in danger: Climate challenges and sustainable solutions

Protecting the ocean, the planet’s number one climate regulator, is the sine qua non for maintaining life on earth. The ocean’s resources are vast, diverse and essential, particularly in ensuring our supply of food. Our trade and communication both depend on the ocean. It is indispensable to our physical and social lives. It ensures that the planet remains habitable for all life, including humankind. But human activities pose threats to the health of the ocean and its resources. If we fail to take appropriate, concerted and ambitious action, this tendency may quickly trigger famines, major population movements, and socio-economic inequalities, hampering our societies’ aspirations for fair and sustainable development. How will the ocean behave tomorrow in the face of the pressures placed on it by humans and the uses we make of it? If we fail to remember this key element of our life on earth, we will alter how it functions and its health. This will inevitably affect our well-being, as our habitat depends on the ocean's vitality. How can we ensure the long-term future of this natural capital on an international scale? The ocean is a complex, dynamic and interconnected system, making it difficult to turn warnings from the scientific community into firm, actionable policy decisions. The Intergovernmental Panel for Ocean Sustainability (IPOS) is a project initiated by scientists that proposes the creation of an international body under the aegis of the United Nations to facilitate concerted reflections on the future of a sustainable ocean, and to take the necessary action.