A/RES/71/312 Our ocean, our future: call for action 2. We are mobilized by a strong conviction that our ocean is critical to our shared future and common humanity in all its diversity. As leaders and representatives of our Governments, we are determined to act decisively and urgently, convinced that our collective action will make a meaningful difference to our people, to our planet and to our prosperity. 3. We recognize that our ocean covers three quarters of our planet, connects our populations and markets and forms an important part of our natural and cultura l heritage. It supplies nearly half the oxygen we breathe, absorbs over a quarter of the carbon dioxide we produce, plays a vital role in the water cycle and the climate system and is an important source of our planet’s biodiversity and of ecosystem services. It contributes to sustainable development and sustainable ocean -based economies, as well as to poverty eradication, food security and nutrition, maritime trade and transportation, decent work and livelihoods. 4. We are particularly alarmed by the adverse impacts of climate change on the ocean, including the rise in ocean temperatures, ocean and coastal acidification, deoxygenation, sea level rise, the decrease in polar ice coverage, coastal erosion and extreme weather events. We acknowledge the need to address the adverse impacts that impair the crucial ability of the ocean to act as climate regulator, source of marine biodiversity and as key provider of food and nutrition, tourism and ecosystem services and as an engine for sustainable economic development and growth. We recognize, in this regard, the particular importance of the Paris Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 2 5. We are committed to halting and reversing the decline in the health and productivity of our ocean and its ecosystems and to protecting and restoring its resilience and ecological integrity. We recognize that the well -being of present and future generations is inextricably linked to the health and productivity of our ocean. 6. We underline the integrated and indivisible character of all the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the interlinkages and synergies between them, and reiterate the critical importance of being guided in our work by the 2030 Agenda, including the principles reaffirmed therein. We acknowledge that each country faces specific challenges in its pursuit of sustainable development, in particular least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, small island developing States and African States, including coastal ones, as do others recognized in the 2030 Agenda. There are also serious challenges within many middle-income countries. 7. We reiterate our commitment to achieve the targets of Goal 14 within the timelines, and the need to sustain action over the long term, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities. We recognize, in particular, the special importance of certain targets in Goal 14 for small island developing St ates and least developed countries. 8. We stress the need for an integrated, interdisciplinary and cross -sectoral approach, as well as enhanced cooperation, coordination and policy coherence, at all levels. We emphasize the critical importance of effective partnerships enabling collective action and reaffirm our commitment to the implementation of Goal 14 with the full participation of all relevant stakeholders. _______________ 2 2/6 See FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1, decision 1/CP.21, annex.

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