An historic new international treaty, described as “a monumental win for the protection of the world’s oceans”, opened for signature by member states on 20 September during a meeting of world leaders at the UN General Assembly.
The Global Ocean Treaty aims to regulate the world’s oceans which have been degraded by over-fishing, plastics pollution, indiscriminate seabed mining, destruction of marine ecosystems and global heating.
Fr P Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam SDB, Theological Consultant at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development on Ecology, told The Tablet: “For Christians in particular, this treaty is great sign of hope.
“Let us celebrate this moment of recognition by the UN of the deep spiritual, cultural, and biological significance of the Ocean as a result of countless individuals, groups, governments, faith communities, including the Catholic Church, who have called for decades for a treaty of this nature.”
He congratulated the UN for taking “a great stride” in ocean protection.
“It is my fervent hope that nations around the world will commit to this critical framework that works in tandem with other significant UN agreements such the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Climate Change, and the Treaty on Plastic Pollution.”
The treaty will be legally binding after ratification by 60 countries. It sets out a process to protect 30 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030. Catholic groups – particularly Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Oceania – have lobbied for greater protection at UN Ocean conferences.
Archbishop Peter Chong of Suva in Fiji, president of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania, has supported “prophetic advocacy” on such issues as seabed mining.
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