Protecting the oceans

That this House recognises and celebrates the importance of vibrant oceans to our global ecosystem; notes that our oceans are facing a variety of threats, including large amounts of waste of all kinds being disposed of in them, overfishing and human caused climate change, and that the creatures within them are especially vulnerable to even slight changes in global temperatures; regrets that studies have found that only 13 per cent of the ocean has been unharmed by human activity, that 50 per cent of global coral has died since 1980, that 72 marine species are listed as critically endangered, and that over a third of marine mammal species face extinction; recalls the work of the Blue Belt Programme in UK Overseas Territories; welcomes the Greenpeace Ocean Declaration on the ongoing negotiations towards a Global Ocean Treaty and calls upon the Government to be bold in pursuing meaningful negotiations to establish, significantly expand and enforce global ocean sanctuaries, and to drive a global shift towards a collaborative, but also effective, global decision making process to help protect global oceans.