Commit to conservation and sustainability of oceans through innovation and science: UN

The UN proclaimed World Oceans Day-2026 is being observed today - on June 8 - under the theme "Reimagine: Beyond the world we know, a new relationship with our ocean" with a focus on marine protected areas and highlight humanity's connection to the seas and the fight against climate change

The UN chief, António Guterres, in his message on an earlier occasion had said that climate change was a sharp reminder of how we are all intimately connected to each other and to nature and showed his concern about the oceans becoming more acidic and littered with plastic pollution, thereby, putting marine biodiversity and essential food chains in jeopardy.

He stressed the need for better understanding of the oceans is essential for conserving fish stocks and discovering new products and medicines. "I urge governments and all stakeholders to commit to the conservation and sustainability of the oceans through innovation and science," he added.

According to the UN, we must make shift the notion of passive inheritors of the ocean’s generosity to active guardians of its future. "To govern not just beyond our borders but beyond our blind spots, beyond the habits of taking, operating in silos, and the belief that the way things have been is the way they must remain," added the UN.