05/31/2023 | News release | Distributed by Public on 06/01/2023 00:18
The need to seek advances in research and in the protection of the ocean motivated a meeting on Tuesday between civil society and public authorities, at the UNESCO headquarters in Brasília, aiming to advance in encouraging science and ocean culture, in combating predatory practices, and in the country's legislation.
According to the second World Report on Ocean Science (Global Ocean Science Report 2020), published by the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), Member States spend, on average, only 1.7% of their research budgets on ocean sciences.
The proximity of World Oceans Day - celebrated annually on 8 June - and the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) reinforced the relevance of the moment and the opportunity for the Working Group to remember the significant challenges to fight predatory actions and encourage oceanic science and culture.
The president of Ibama (the National Environmental Institute), Rodrigo Agostinho, pointed out that the country has 8,000 kilometres of coastline and this needs to be treated with due importance, but acknowledged that the issue of the ocean had been a significant challenge in the country. "One of the first actions I took was the resumption of inspection at sea. We are working hard with inspection actions to combat predatory fishing," he affirmed. Regarding environmental licensing, he said that the agency is very cautious concerning any licensing that has any influence or is linked to the ocean.
Notably, the consequences of threats to the ocean are not just environmental. About 3 billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for survival. By 2050, coastal areas - home to 300 million people - could be threatened by rising sea levels due to climate change.
The ocean also plays a decisive role in regulating the climate by absorbing about a third of carbon dioxide emissions. The ocean is, therefore, essential to humanity's very destiny as a source of life. For this reason, it has played a central role in international cooperation for a long time.
The meeting was an initiative of the Working Group for Marine Use and Conservation (GT-Mar), a thematic action group of the Environmentalist Parliamentary Front of the National Congress, represented by Deputy Túlio Gadêlha. The parliamentarian spoke about the need to build more solid legislation on the sea, which dealt with the regulation of the marine biome, care, and preservation and pointed out that Brazil is still lagging on the world stage regarding legislation and care for the ocean.