The message of the special envoy of the US presidency on Climate – He thanked Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Nikos Dendias for the “leadership role” they play
The message that “Greece is doing what it usually does, that is to come forward and lead an effort that will make a difference for the entire planet”, was sent by the US President’s Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry in a taped message shown at the event of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in view of Greece’s organization of the 9th International Conference “Our Ocean Greece 2024”.
Also, John Kerry expressed the belief that “as we move towards the 9th edition of the ConferenceGreece will step forward and provide the necessary leadership”, he pointed out that he looks forward to working with our country in the next two years in the preparation of “this important Conference” and thanked Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias for ” the leadership role” they play, as he characteristically mentioned.
He made special reference to ancient Greece invoking Achilles’ saying in the Iliad that the ocean is the source of all things. “Greece obviously has a history that goes as far back as history itself. As we all know, one of the great figures of Greek mythology, Achilles, is quoted in the Iliad as saying that the Ocean is the source of everything. If we approach the issue in this way, we realize the importance of addressing these challenges for the oceans. By dealing with them, life on the planet itself is actually protected and it becomes cleaner, safer, healthier. And as a result, we all benefit, around the world.” he said characteristically.
Focusing on the organization of the 9th Conference by Greece, the special envoy of the American president expressed the USA’s “enthusiasm” for this event and emphasized that our country is “an admirable world leader in shipping”. “We have already seen some shipping companies start to make announcements to build and buy completely carbon-free ships and start to change sea lanes from port through the oceans to the port of destination. So that all practices within these maritime corridors are “green”” he underlined.
An additional thing that needs to be addressed, according to the American official, is not only shipping, but also fishing practices. “We are wasting too much money tracking minimal catches around the world. There are illegal fishing vessels in the oceans, on the high seas, with the support of their countries, which are literally draining the oceans these days. And this will lead to an even greater reduction in fish stocks. For example, the bluefin tuna has today declined to about 5% of its normal stock and is threatened with extinction,” he said.
Furthermore, John Kerry pointed out that the oceans are vital to life itself on the planet and warned that they are in crisis today. “And this crisis is not just a simple pollution problem. It’s a much more complex problem. Because the oceans control our climate on a global scale. And it’s really vital to the cycle of life and the relationship between the climate crisis and the ocean crisis. What happens is that greenhouse gas pollution goes up into the atmosphere, travels around the planet, but falls with precipitation into the ocean. And that rainfall carries huge levels of high acidity that changes the ocean’s chemistry for the worse. It also changes food supplies and has an impact on crustaceans, softening their shells,” he explained.
Moreover, he suggested that the most important thing is that it is also a climate crisis, because the increase in the temperature of the earth, which comes from greenhouse gases, is absorbed by 90% by the oceans. So the oceans are warming and their chemistry is changing more than it has in millions of years, he added.
Referring to the 7th Conference held this year in Palau, he said more than 70 nations met and made commitments, about 400 commitments, totaling about $16 billion.
He also concluded that since the start of the “Our Ocean” Conference, more than 100 billion dollars have been offered to efforts to protect marine areas, marine protected areas, “to be able to change fishing practices and to address the plastic pollution. And most importantly, to understand the connection to the climate crisis itself.”
It is noted that the 8th International Conference “Our Ocean” will be hosted by Panama.
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