The Ocean: Our Source of Life and Every Second Breath

Peter Thomson; Special Envoy for UN to Oceans

In my interview with Peter Thompson, the Special Envoy to the UN on Oceans; he begins our conversation with this sobering message from the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.

“We are knowingly destroying the life support systems of the planet.”

It is extraordinary to me that we have come so far in our biological discourse on humanity’s relationship to nature to now directly state that our carbon, plastic, waste pollution is destroying the planet…and the seat of life, the ocean.

Do we really understand that without a health ocean, we don’t have a healthy planetary system to support all of life on earth, including our own?

Do we really feel the agency and urgency to act? Do we know what to do? Well, Peter Thompson gives us a few clues…and in the end, it is clear that our success or failure of stewarding life on earth IS all up to me and you.

So…

Let’s be diligent and consistent and vocal about our personal ban on single use plastic. As with CV 19 we are all becoming more conscious about what we touch; let’s become conscious about how much plastic we let into our homes and life.

Let’s be diligent and consistent and vocal about our food choices—and shift food fashion from top predator fin fish and shell fish 24/7 and out of season to high protein, marine-rich tofu.

Let’s be diligent and consistent and vocal about our concern for the disappearance of the coral reef ecosystem and the decimation of marine wildlife due to illegal fishing and consumption. Let’s let our local, regional, national political leaders know that we care about the ocean… and we want them to prioritize caring about and protecting them too.