World must move from ‘plunder to protection’ to save oceans, UN chief warns

Speaking at summit in France, Antonio Guterres calls for bold pledges to stop deep sea becoming wild west'

Nations must move from plunder to protection" in order to save the world's seas from crisis, the UN chief, Antonio Guterres, told the ocean summit on Monday.

All countries must come forward with bold pledges" including a biodiversity target to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030, to tackle plastic pollution, overfishing and for greater governance of the high seas, he said at the opening ceremony. Guterres also stressed the importance of multilateralism and warned, in an apparent swipe at the US, which was not present at the conference: The deep sea cannot become the wild west."