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Ocean Unite

30X30 IS A CALL TO ACTION TO SAFEGUARD AT LEAST 30% OF THE WORLD’S OCEAN BY 2030
THROUGH A NETWORK OF HIGHLY PROTECTED MARINE AREAS WHERE NO DESTRUCTIVE OR
EXTRACTIVE ACTIVITIES LIKE FISHING OR MINING CAN TAKE PLACE.

our #LOVE30x30 vision

Our Ocean is essential to life on earth. All of us, 
directly and indirectly, depend on the Ocean- from the 
air we breathe, the food we eat, to jobs and livelihoods.

If we take care of the ocean it will take care of us.

Although the Ocean covers 70% of the Earth’s surface it 
is still woefully under protected, with only 2% strongly 
protected from destructive or extractive activities.

The science is telling us we need to do much more 
to ensure a healthy Ocean for future generations.

Strong protection of at least 30% of the Ocean is needed by 2030 (30×30) to build the resilience of ocean life to adapt to climate change and buffer it from other threats like overfishing.

We all need to work together to supercharge ocean protection and make 30×30 a reality through action on the water, on the streets and in the corridors of power.

Strong protection of at least 30% of the Ocean is needed by 2030 (30×30) to build the resilience of ocean life to adapt to climate change and buffer it from other threats like overfishing.

We all need to work together to supercharge ocean protection and make 30×30 a reality through action on the water, on the streets and in the corridors of power.

30 Inspiring Ocean Protection Initiatives Towards 30x30

At present only just over 2% of the world’s ocean is fully protected and so we need a step change in the designation and implementation of fully protected areas worldwide. The map below gives a snapshot of some of the inspiring initiatives already underway around the globe that need our support. By establishing networks of fully protected areas throughout the Ocean, from the polar oceans to tropical seas, from coastal waters to the vast expanses of the open ocean, the full spectrum of marine life can thrive, building the resilience needed to ensure a vibrant and healthy Ocean for the future.

Background map and photos, unless credited otherwise, by kind permission of Greenpeace. 

Strong Protection of 30% of the Ocean means:

  • The global Ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface and contains 97% of Earth’s water.
  • It is home to 80% of all life on the planet.
  • It plays a critical role maintaining our climate and has absorbed 30% of the excess carbon dioxide emissions emitted into the atmosphere and over 90% of the heat from global warming.
  • It is responsible for every 2nd breath we take.
  • It is the largest provider of protein in the world and it sustains 3 billion people who depend on seafood as their primary source of protein.
  • It is responsible for spurring trade, transport and communication, and it supports the economic viability of entire countries and regions.
  • It generates about $1.5 trillion USD in global economic activity and supports more than $39 billion annually from maritime and tourism activities alone.

What would strong protection
of 30% of the Ocean by
2030 achieve?

  • Healthier ecosystems and species that are more resilient and better able to withstand and recover from the impacts of climate change.
  • Climate change mitigation through protection of coastal habitats like mangroves, seagrass beds and salt marshes that are vital for the sequestering and storing carbon.
  • Reduction of ocean risk from extreme weather events, like storm surges, through protection of coastal natural defense systems, like reefs and mangroves.
  • Livelihoods and food for all.
  • More and bigger fish and greater species diversity.
  • Safe havens for threatened species like whales, sharks, rays and turtles.
  • High financial returns –estimated economic benefit of protecting 30% of the ocean is between US$490 to $920 billion by 2050, and would create 150,000 to 180,000 full-time jobs.

How can we achieve 30x30?

2020 is an Ocean “super year”! A series of key global political meetings and decisions will be taking place and we ALL need to all work together- concerned citizens, civil society, governments, businesses, scientists, local communities- to promote action on 30×30.

This includes

  • Support the Campaign for Nature
  • Drive adoption of the 30x30 target at the Convention on Biodiversity Conference in 2020
  • Accelerate action by countries to protect 30% of their own waters
  • Secure agreement for a strong new UN high seas treaty in 2020

Together we can
make a difference:

Support Ocean Unite’s mission to protect 30% of the Ocean by 2030
  • Spread the #Love30x30 word on social media.
  • Check out the level of strict protection in your country’s waters at MPAtlas.org’s global map, and urge your government to support the 30x30 goal in a new global deal for nature, now scheduled for 2021, as well as get them to sign up to be a member of a High Ambition Coalition of countries to protect people and nature.
  • Urge businesses to join the business for nature coalition because the ocean is everybody’s business.
  • Urge NGOs and other organisations to join the call for a robust global deal for nature.
  • Support the negotiation of a strong new UN high seas biodiversity agreement that will enable MPAs to be established in 2/3 of the Ocean) by supporting the activities of the highseasalliance.org.
  • Support the establishment of new Southern Ocean MPAs in 2020 through #Antarctica2020 and www.antarcticocean.org .
  • Be a responsible ocean user. Find out more about the 10 things you can do to save the ocean.
  • Sign up to Ocean Unite’s Navigator monthly newsletter to keep on top of key ocean issues.

Resources

DOWNLOAD LEAFLET HERE

OCEAN UNITE’S WORK TO
HELP ACHIEVE 30X30?

Safiya Sawney is currently the Caribbean Policy Lead for Ocean Unite. Most recently she was the Ocean and Climate Policy Advisor to the Mission of the Republic of Palau to the United Nations representing the President of Palau at the High-Level Panel for the Sustainable Ocean Economy and leading Palau’s engagement at the UN Secretary General’s 2019 Climate Action Summit. Safiya was also the project coordinator for the UN Office of Project Services providing strategic support towards the 2020 Our Oceans Conference.

Formerly, Safiya was the lead policy advisor on a Blue Economy partnership platform between the Governments of the Netherlands and Grenada with support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Safiya has fostered many innovative partnerships to spur action on ocean plastics and environmental awareness for small islands states including partnerships with Parley for the Ocean and Adidas, PangeaSeed, UN Environment, United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and others.

Safiya has provided policy support to Climate Analytics Inc. on Caribbean climate strategies, was the deputy coordinator for the Caribbean team that executed the 2013 Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI) Summit in collaboration with Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Unite and The Nature Conservancy and served as technical advisor to Alliance of Small Island Developing States at the UN.

Jon Bassford, CAE, JD, MBA is an association and nonprofit operations professional. Jon has worked for c3 to c7 organizations across many different roles and responsibilities but has carved out an expertise as an efficient and effective operations professional. Through his consulting firm Lateral Solutions, Jon leads several organizations as a part-time operations director as well as client work in college student/campus outreach, organizational development, innovation, and strategy. Jon has truly carved out an expertise helping organizations launch and run internal operations in an efficient and effective manner using digital tools.
 
Across his membership and operational roles, Jon has 15 years of experience leading organizations.

Renee brings nearly a decade of internal operations experience to the Ocean Unite team. Prior to joining the team, Renee worked for eight years at The Pew Charitable Trusts where she began as an administrative assistant supporting their Shark, Tuna, and Whale conservation campaigns as well as the Senior Director of International Ocean Conservation. Particularly adept at identifying operational issues and developing methods to solve them, Renee moved into an operations role working across Pew’s international Ocean conservation projects, then all their environment conservation projects, and later the breadth of Pew’s programmatic work. She has degrees from California State University, San Bernardino, and Temple University in Philadelphia, and recently relocated from Washington, DC, to the California coast. As hard as this team works to protect our magnificent Ocean, Renee is the only person on the team who lives at the beach and relishes in enjoying the beauty of the Ocean every day.

Brittney is Ocean Unite’s digital and social media manager and is a consultant for Communications Inc. Comms Inc. is an agency which works with the not-for-profit sector, with a particular specialism in the ocean and wider environment. They are well known within the international ocean community and enjoy the trust of, and a working relationship with, most of the large international environmental NGOs and coalitions. Recognised for their ability to deliver fast, cost-effective and productive communications and campaigning, they are particularly valued for their strategic contribution based on a sound understanding of the issues, the political landscape within which the issues exist and a creative approach to bringing about change. (www.communicationsinc.co.uk)

One of the principals of Communications Inc., Sophie has nearly 20 years of experience in strategic communications. Comms Inc., is an agency which works with the not for profit sector, with a particular specialism in the ocean and wider environment. They are well known within the international ocean community and enjoy the trust of, and a working relationship with, most of the large international environmental NGOs and coalitions. Recognised for their ability to deliver fast, cost-effective and productive communications and campaigning, they are particularly valued for their strategic contribution based on a sound understanding of the issues, the political landscape within which the issues exist and a creative approach to bringing about change (www.communicationsinc.co.uk).

Nathalie has almost two decades of experience working in environmental advocacy. She worked for over 15 years for Greenpeace International, focusing mainly on biodiversity issues. For many years she worked as Senior Oceans Political Advisor focusing on international ocean governance and marine conservation. More recently she was the deputy director of the Political and Business Unit. She has wide experience of attending and leading delegations at international environmental meetings, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, and ocean-related negotiations at the UN General Assembly. When asked why she feels strongly about protecting the ocean, she says that not only is it home to the weirdest and most wonderful creatures on the planet, tomorrow’s life-saving drugs could be found at the bottom of the sea, not to mention the discovery of an anti-wrinkle cream that actually works!

Karen has over 25 years of experience working for international non-governmental organisations on environmental issues around the world with a particular focus on protecting marine biodiversity and building resilience to climate change. In 2015, Sack established Ocean Unite, co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and former Costa Rican President José María Figueres, to engage leadership voices and the business community to accelerate ocean health and resilience. Ocean Unite is committed to helping secure the strong protection of 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030. It has also developed a groundbreaking partnership with the insurance sector to address ocean risk.

She was senior director for international oceans at The Pew Charitable Trusts, where she developed their international oceans program including their ending illegal fishing strategy and initiated and was the managing partner of the Global Ocean Commission. Before that she was head of Greenpeace International’s political and business unit and head of their international oceans programme. In 2004, she was the first person from a non-governmental organization to speak at a regular session of the United Nations General Assembly, where she represented the concerns of over 60 environmental organizations from around the world over the plight of our oceans. Karen is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network. She has master’s degrees in international environmental law and in international political economy.