{"id":77390,"date":"2025-07-29T22:12:38","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T20:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=77390"},"modified":"2025-09-10T12:23:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T10:23:49","slug":"5-ways-take-action-support-people-ocean-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/77390\/5-ways-take-action-support-people-ocean-health\/","title":{"rendered":"5 ways to take action to support people and ocean health"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While coastal and Indigenous communities have been sustainably managing the ocean, protecting biodiversity and safeguarding a healthy climate for all for centuries, destructive fishing and industrial exploitation is harming people\u2019s health and livelihood, while destroying nature and climate. We need to uphold community driven solutions to ensure a fair and sustainable future for the ocean and the people \u2013 and demand governments follow their lead.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"Woman
Julienne Dogue, a woman working in the fish processing business, collects seafood on the shore near Mar Lodj fishing village, Fatick region, Senegal.
\u00a9 Cl\u00e9ment Tardif \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The ocean is at the heart of coastal communities\u2019 livelihoods, feeding families around the world and weaving communities together through vibrant cultural traditions.<\/strong> Millions of small-scale fishers, Indigenous Peoples, and coastal people rely on healthy oceans for food, income, and cultural survival. <\/p>\n\n

But oceans and people\u2019s health are threatened <\/strong>by unsustainable practices and industrial exploitation <\/strong>\u2013 from state-imposed industrial megaprojects and destructive fishing in Thailand, to intensive aquaculture in Chilean Patagonia, fishmeal and fish oil factories in West Africa, and bottom trawling in Sri Lanka. 
Solutions are within voices making waves<\/strong>, and this is why we need to uphold community driven solutions to ensure a fair and sustainable future for the ocean and the people \u2013 and demand governments follow their lead.<\/p>\n\n

\"World
Women activists with their empty traditional calabash bowls, raise their fists in defiance in Mbour, Senegal to highlight their grassroots campaigns against industrial overfishing and coastal industrialisation and demand government action. They also hold a banner reading “My gourd is empty because of trawlers”.
\u00a9 Cl\u00e9ment Tardif \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

From UNOC3 to COP17: a people powered movement is growing and you can be part of it<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

Government leaders gathered in June 2025 at the third UN Ocean Conference, UNOC3, in Nice, France to discuss the future of the oceans, and because we all depend on the oceans, Greenpeace was there along with community representatives, small-scale fishers and women processors from Thailand, Mauritania, Gambia and Senegal. This big global event was crucial for the future of oceans and people: we know that marine conservation can only be a success with coastal communities leading the wa(y)ve,<\/strong> so we made sure world leaders hear the voices of coastal people.<\/p>\n\n

\"Oceans
Nearly a thousand people took part in the Blue March on the Promenade des Anglais on Saturday 7 June 2025, on the eve of the opening of the United Nations Ocean Conference. A mosaic of nationalities and demands carrying \u2018the voice of the people\u2019.
\u00a9 Pierre Larrieu \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

A people powered movement is growing\u2026 and this is just the beginning. <\/strong>We need to make sure ocean justice is at the centre of the conversation during the next global negotiations in 2026. COP17, the 17th Conference of the Parties under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), will be a moment for global leaders to report on how they delivered on the commitments they made during the previous COP in Rome<\/a> and Cali, including priority funding for Indigenous Peoples and coastal communities who are stewards for protecting and restoring biodiversity, and protecting us all from the biodiversity collapse and its climate impacts. <\/a><\/p>\n\n

Even though COP17 may seem in the far future, we can have an impact <\/strong>now<\/strong> and make sure world leaders center coastal communities rights and knowledge.<\/strong> That\u2019s why we\u2019re already paying attention \u2014 to ensure the voices and priorities of coastal communities are not only heard but truly reflected in the roadmap, and that governments actually invest in community-led solutions. Real change doesn\u2019t begin at the negotiation table \u2014 it begins where the ocean meets the people.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

You may wonder: How can I contribute to these big global events? How can my voice make waves and contribute to ensuring ocean justice is at the heart of crucial conversations?<\/p>\n\n

Here are 5 easy actions you can take today in order to support coastal people\u2019s rights and ocean conservation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

<\/div>\n\n

ACTION 1: Share testimonials of coastal people to show your support and demand global leaders to recognise coastal people leadership in safeguarding oceans for us all<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

At UNOC3 in Nice, two coastal communities representatives from Senegal and Thailand, Diaba Diop and Piya Thedyam sent a message to global leaders, and their hopes for future generations. We need to uphold community driven solutions to ensure a fair and sustainable future for the ocean and the people \u2013 and demand governments follow their lead.<\/p>\n\n

Watch and share Diaba and Piya\u2019s video testimonials in your Instagram stories<\/strong> to demand governments that policies protect the rights of small-scale fishers, Indigenous Peoples, local coastal communities, as well as women and youth \u2014 those most dependent on, and essential to, ocean stewardship. Together, in the lead up to COP17, we can make sure world leaders comply with their commitments to protect and restore biodiversity by upholding coastal communities rights and leadership in sustainable ocean management.<\/p>\n\n

Don\u2019t forget to use the hashtags #COP17 and #OceanJustice and tag @greenpeace<\/p>\n\n

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A post shared by Greenpeace International \ud83c\udf0d (@greenpeace)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n