The Oceans Are Worth $24 Trillion; Human Race Squandering The Inheritance

The World Wild Life Fund has estimated the ocean to be worth $24 trillion with an yearly output of $2.5 trillion every year. But his natural resource is being overexploited and eroded because of climate change, pollution and human greed. The experts warn that loss of the ocean eco-system would hit the human race hard putting a question mark over life as we know it on earth.

The report compiled by the WWF in association with The Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and The Boston Consulting Group, has revealed extensive erosion of ocean resources with majority of the human shareholders outside the ambit of its riches. “The Ocean economy would rival the richest economies of the world but it is being allowed to sink to the level of a failed country,” said Marco Lambertini, the Director General of WWF International.

Large corporations and the rich countries have been trawling the high seas for pharmaceuticals, mineral wealth, food and other resources. NGO’s and other stakeholders fear that only the richer stakeholders are being benefited. Acording to the statement released by WWF, Climate change is another major factor which has killed the fishes, eroded of coral reefs, caused ocean acidity and resulted in massive extinction of marine ecosystems. Pollution because of human activity and misuse of high sea resources have been a bone of contention between conservationists and member countries. The terrorist and pirates infested high seas have resulted in squandering of resources where the ambit of law is limited.

The UN has been trying to negotiate a legally binding treaty to conserve the marine ecosystem and protect the high seas from corporate and human exploitation. The collapsing oceans would take away millions of jobs, remove the storm protection, and bring in disastrous consequences for human life. But this treaty is still not validated by the member states. Experts warn that the failure in conserving the ocean economy by arresting lawlessness in the high seas would destroy this economy by the year 2050.

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