UN General Assembly: The Ocean Race and global partners call for the recognition of the inherent rights of the ocean
The Ocean Race, the Government of Cabo Verde and US-based Earth Law Center present principles to guide a new relationship with the ocean
The ocean, the foundation to all life, has inherent rights and intrinsic value, and they need to be recognised and included in legislation at national, regional and global levels. This is the strong message that The Ocean Race, the government of Cabo Verde and Earth Law Center delivered to the United Nations General Assembly Member States.
The Ocean Race Summit – Presenting Ocean Rights, held yesterday at the UN headquarters during the 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 78) in New York, culminates several years of work to develop principles for a Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights.
The proposal is also a call for urgent action: the ocean is not only a resource but critical to all life, and a change is needed in the way society values, treats and interacts with the blue heart of our planet, facing cumulative impacts from pollution, habitat destruction, overfishing and climate change.
Principles on ocean rights
Principles on ocean rights, developed by over 150 global experts, policymakers, business leaders, lawyers, Indigenous Peoples, scientists, NGOs, and other stakeholders, include recognising that we are all ocean guardians and have a shared responsibility to care and ensure responsible use of the ocean; respecting diverse values, knowledge and practices; recognising the ocean’s right to representation and to have a voice at the table; and guaranteeing the principle of precaution and prevention when serious and irreversible damage is suspected.
The principles were shared with an audience of heads of State, ministers and delegates from Permanent Missions to the UN with the aim of growing support with United Nations Member States, with the goal of securing a Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights by 2030 that would provide a global approach to protecting the seas.
In recent years, there has been a growing movement to legally grant nature rights. Over 200 laws and policies in over 40 countries around the world have recognized that nature, including ecosystems and species, has inherent rights, and legally should have the same protection as people and corporations; that ecosystems and species have legal rights to exist, thrive and regenerate.
The Ocean, as the largest ecosystem on the planet, generates oxygen, sequesters carbon dioxide, regulates climate, is the primary source of food and jobs for millions of people, and sustains millions of species, both marine and land-based
