The Mediterranean is not just a sea. It is also a hope spot. And even more so when it is the focus of much of the world's attention.
The third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), to be held from 9 to 13 June in Nice, is not just an international summit where big announcements are made. It is much more than that.
It is a space for debating key issues, generating ideas, and creating links and synergies. It is a meeting place for governments from around the world and public and private organisations that come together to draw up strategies and define coordinated actions with the aim of protecting the oceans. UNOC3 is also a unique opportunity for the Mediterranean, a sea that has not always received the attention it deserves but which, despite the serious conflicts currently affecting it, also shows that it can deliver positive results.
UNOC3 allows us to demonstrate all this. It also reminds the world that our future depends directly on the health of the ocean. An ocean that gives us oxygen, provides us with life and food, and gives us pleasure and wellbeing; an ocean that is home to extraordinary and immense biodiversity.
And in the middle of this interconnected ocean are we: the Balearic Sea.
The Marilles team will be at UNOC3 to remind the world that the Balearic Islands are also a place of hope. If we can achieve a sea full of life in an area where there is so much human pressure and media spotlight, we can set an irrefutable example for the rest of the planet. This is what we have always stood for. The Balearic Islands can become a benchmark for conservation.
Moreover, there is a new energy in the Mediterranean today, an energy that is here to stay and one that will become evident in Nice over the next few days. We are working together with diverse organisations to bring about change.
UNOC3 gives us the opportunity and the platform to make this visible. That is why, with more than 70 organisations from across the Mediterranean that, like us, are part of the Med Sea Alliance and Together for the Med, we will call on world leaders — including those in our country and region — to accelerate action to conserve and restore the Mediterranean.
We need bold measures, transformative actions, and solid, sufficient, long-term funding. Only then will we be able to turn this hope into a certainty: a sea full of life where the balance between human activity and marine conservation is a reality.
Aniol Esteban - Director
