Promoting Marine Biodiversity 

Marine biodiversity is the comprehensive term that encompasses the variety of life in the oceans and seas, an integral part of what the United Nations classifies as the “three pillars of sustainable development”, being economic, social, and environmental, which together support the balance and healthy functioning of humanity and the earth as well as their subsequent relationship. 

The ocean is home to roughly 250,000 known species with so many more yet to be discovered. Supplying around 50% of the oxygen we breathe as well as absorbing about 26% of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide we emit into the atmosphere, the ocean and the life within it are a critical part of a functioning planet, one of the main reasons that humans are able to survive on it. Additionally, marine biodiversity supports economic and social development, an example being job sectors relating to fishing which are the source of income for hundreds of millions of people globally in addition to a significant food source. 

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However, biodiversity globally has been facing a drastic decline, predominantly as a result of human activities. The UN outlines “unsustainable fishing practices, marine debris, and anthropogenic underwater noise, as well as climate change and ocean acidification” as some of the main contributing factors to this. Others include the invasive alien species and changes in land use which European Parliament policies highlight. Scientists warn that ⅛ of these species are threatened with extinction in the coming decades, meaning that the careful balance that must be preserved for us to continue to experience the positive effects of marine biodiversity and oceans across the three pillars of sustainable development are in jeopardy.