Faiths for UNOC3 officially launched the UNOC3 Multi-faith Declaration, a landmark interfaith commitment to marine conservation and ocean protection, during a UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) event on 9 June at Nice-France and serves as a foundation for faith-based advocacy in marine conservation.
With over 55 faith-based institutions and conservation organizations joining together, the declaration unites religious traditions from around the world in a shared spiritual and moral commitment to protect our ocean.
The declaration calls for “urgent, transformative action that restores right relationship with the ocean and with one another, …affirm(ing) the importance of centering human rights in all ocean governance and conservation, and support, in particular, the calls brought forward by Indigenous Peoples, small-scale fishers, and coastal communities.” Five calls to action are laid out:
- Protect and restore at least 30% of our ocean by 2030 through effectively managed marine protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs). This sacred commitment requires not just quantity but quality of protection, designations that truly safeguard marine ecosystems from harmful activities, including destructive fishing practices, offshore oil and gas activities, and other damaging industrial activities.
- Support the moratorium on deep-sea mining. The ocean’s depths must be protected from exploitation that could irreversibly damage ancient ecosystems. The international community should prioritize precautionary principles and preservation, only taking decisions to consider such potentially damaging activities when science and inclusive consultation can guide responsible deep ocean governance.
- Ratify and implement the High Seas Treaty (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement) as soon as possible, providing the legal framework necessary to protect marine biodiversity and promote greater ocean equity in international waters, which constitute nearly two-thirds of the global ocean, store vast amounts of carbon, and hold vast biodiversity, but have remained largely unprotected.
- Address marine pollution comprehensively, including plastic pollution, discharge of sewage and chemicals, underwater noise pollution, heavy metals, and nutrient runoff that threaten marine ecosystems and human health. We support the creation of a Global Plastics Treaty to tackle this crisis at its source.
- Recognize the ocean’s vital role in regulating climate and support ocean-based climate solutions by ensuring coherence between the outcomes of the UNOC and the latest reports from the IPCC. We call for urgent action to address ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and sea level rise, while scaling up fair, equitable and rights-based blue carbon initiatives and nature-based solutions.
The Faiths for UNOC3 team that runs this multi-faith campaign encourages organizations to continue signing the declaration beyond UNOC3 and offers their communications toolkit to support continuing engagements and help communicating support for the declaration and activate communities. The toolkit includes:
- Ready-to-use messages and talking points rooted in faith and science
- Links to the UNOC3 policy primers
- The Sacred Oceans Report
- Templates for newsletters, blogs, press releases, and social media
- Downloadable social media graphics to boost digital outreach
- Educational resources and spiritual reflections to mobilize communities
“As people of faith and goodwill, we are building a global moral movement to protect our sacred waters, for the climate, for biodiversity, for vulnerable communities, and for future generations.”
To join the growing number of signatories to the UNOC3 Multi-faith Declaration, please go to this link.