A NEED to guard marine biology was emphasised by the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, within the House of Lords last week.
“The world’s oceans support biodiversity, regulate climate, store carbon, sustain global food webs, and supply critical genetic and biological resources,” he said. “Protecting them is important not just for ocean health, but for the soundness and well-being of all the planet.”
Bishop Usher, the C of E lead bishop on the environment, was speaking through the Second Reading of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill. He used plenty of religious illustrations in his speech, speaking of medieval manuscripts decorated with “doodles by monks and students”, drawings of “scary sea-monsters”, “the flood and Noah”, “Jonah within the belly of the whale”, St Paul and his shipwreck, and “the book of Revelation’s glassy sea”.
He continued: “Those wondrous works within the deep are under threat. We have lost respect for the high seas in favour of an exploitative attitude. Deep-sea mining, overfishing, pollution, ocean acidification, oil and gas extraction are all threats being faced. Our oceans provide diverse ecosystems, including hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, with many endemic species inside a small area. Our oceans act as the biggest carbon sinks on the planet, storing it in deep-sea sediments, reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide and slowing global warming.”
He was keen, he said, “to make sure that our own waters are conserved and well managed, particularly the biodiversity of our marine protected areas . . . the Government are right to bring forward the ratification of the High Seas Treaty, and I fully support them.”
The Energy Minister, Lord Whitehead, described the Bill as “a Bill of ambition and global significance”. He said: “It represents the culmination of nearly 20 years of international negotiation and determined scientific advocacy. It concerns nothing lower than the longer term of the two-thirds of the world’s oceans that lie beyond the jurisdiction of any single nation.”
The Earl of Courtown (Conservative) was supportive of the Bill, and said that the UK’s fishing industry was struggling. He asked what the Government might do to assist the country’s domestic fishing fleet. He concluded: “Marine biodiversity matters, and it is true that we should always play our part in protecting it.”
A former Environment Secretary, Baroness Coffey (Conservative), asked in regards to the “Blue Belt” initiative, which works with UK Overseas Territories to guard and enhance their marine ecosystems and biodiversity. Baroness Jones of Moulescoomb (Green Party) was concerned about pollution and the rising demand for mining deep-sea minerals. “I might say that it doesn’t go far enough to guard our ocean,” she said.
There was pressure to pass the Bill in order that the UK could implement its obligations within the Agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, Lord Whitehead said.
Responding for the Government, Baroness Chapman said: “This Bill is about implementing a treaty. . . Not all the things that we may need to do is on this implementing laws, nevertheless it remains to be the best thing.”
The Bill will return to the Lords for Committee Stage this month.
