With two fifths of the world’s population now living within 100 km of the shoreline, keeping our oceans healthy is not just an extraordinarily important environmental issue — it’s also a human development one.
This is the core case of the new UNEP Report, “Green Economy in a Blue World,” which urges protecting the oceans from pollution, overfishing, and climate change, while fueling economic growth through developing new marine industries.
Among other immeasurable benefits, the ocean provides coastal populations food, millions of jobs, a thriving tourism industry, transportation, sites for renewable energy development, and vast carbon sinks. The implications of mismanaging such a bountiful resource are clear and coastal communities cannot afford to do it.
To read the full, original article click on this link: With Billions Living Close to the Shore, Protecting Our Oceans Isn’t Just a Conservation Issue
