Rapporti verbatim tad-dibattiti

It-Tnejn, 15 ta' Jannar 2018 - Strasburgu

17. Governanza internazzjonali tal-oċeani: aġenda għall-futur tal-oċeani tagħna fil-kuntest tal-SDGs 2030 (preżentazzjoni qasira)

  La Présidente. – L’ordre du jour appelle le débat sur le rapport de José Inácio Faria au nom de la commission de l’environnement, de la santé publique et de la sécurité alimentaire, sur la gouvernance internationale des océans: un programme pour l’avenir de nos océans dans le contexte des objectifs de développement durable à l’horizon 2030 (2017/2055(INI) (A8-0399/2017)).

  José Inácio Faria, relator. – Senhora Presidente, Senhor Comissário, caros colegas, os mares e oceanos representam 70% da superfície do planeta e a sua água cerca de 97% da água total mundial. Os mares fornecem alimentos, energia, mobilidade, medicamentos e lazer, e são fonte de crescimento económico. Os oceanos, juntamente com os recursos costeiros e marinhos, desempenham um papel essencial no bem-estar humano e no desenvolvimento económico e social em todo o mundo.

De acordo com as estimativas da OCDE, as indústrias baseadas nos oceanos representam um valor acrescentado bruto à escala mundial de cerca de 1.3 mil milhões de euros, que poderá duplicar até 2030.

Os oceanos albergam igualmente uma biodiversidade rica, frágil e, em grande parte, por explorar, que oferece uma variedade de recursos e serviços ecossistémicos importantes. As economias marinhas e costeiras estão a desenvolver-se em todo o mundo, mas o seu sucesso depende de uma melhor sustentabilidade. Os oceanos desempenham ainda um papel fundamental na regulação do sistema climático, fornecem metade do nosso oxigénio, absorvem cerca de 25% das emissões de CO2 produzidas e redistribuem o calor por todo o planeta. Os oceanos são, na verdade, os nossos maiores aliados contra as alterações climáticas e foram incluídos no Acordo de Paris. No entanto, os nossos oceanos são extremamente vulneráveis à exploração excessiva, às alterações climáticas, como o aquecimento dos oceanos a nível mundial, à degradação ambiental, à acidificação da água devido às emissões resultantes de atividades humanas, à poluição e à diminuição da biodiversidade. Alguns destes desafios globais mais urgentes, incluindo as mudanças climáticas, a pobreza, alimentos seguros e suficientes para uma população projetada para chegar aos 9 mil milhões até 2050, só podem ser abordados eficazmente se os oceanos forem seguros, limpos e geridos de forma sustentável.

Para abordar todos estes desafios é necessária uma melhor governação internacional, a fim de reforçar os esforços a nível regional e global. Estes desafios foram reconhecidos a nível global tanto na cúpula Rio +20, como na Agenda 2030 da ONU para o desenvolvimento sustentável, que identificou a conservação e o uso sustentável dos nossos oceanos como um dos 17 objetivos de desenvolvimento sustentável e como parte de uma agenda altamente interconectada.

A Comunicação conjunta da Comissão Europeia e da Alta Representante, em 2016, sobre a governação internacional dos oceanos, que é parte integrante da resposta da União Europeia à Agenda 2030, baseou-se num largo consenso quanto à necessidade de reforçar o quadro de governação dos oceanos, reduzir as pressões sobre eles exercidas, explorá-los de forma sustentável e que, para tanto, seria necessário um maior conhecimento dos oceanos, propondo para esse efeito 50 ações para garantir oceanos seguros, limpos e geridos de forma sustentável na Europa e no mundo.

A governação internacional dos oceanos prende-se com três domínios de ação da União Europeia: o desenvolvimento sustentável, o crescimento e o emprego e a intervenção da União no mundo. Para a Europa a economia marítima e a competitividade internacional revestem, neste contexto, particular importância dado o estado cada vez mais preocupante dos oceanos e o impacto que neles têm as atividades humanas.

Num caso como noutro, o êxito da gestão constitui um desafio a vencer a nível mundial. A União e os Estados-Membros devem atuar mais firmemente e em conjunto. Este relatório, que vai ser votado amanhã, incentiva a Comissão a desenvolver parcerias no domínio dos oceanos com os principais intervenientes nesta matéria, enquanto meio para alcançar uma melhor governação internacional dos oceanos.

A forma como lidamos com os oceanos é crucial para a nossa sobrevivência como espécie e, em Malta, o Sr. Comissário Vella referiu, durante a Conferência “Our Ocean”, que os oceanos são o coração azul da Terra e que nos cabe a todos nós a tarefa de manter esse coração a bater. Cabe-nos agora a tarefa urgente de agir em defesa dos oceanos e de criar uma nova e ambiciosa governação internacional dos oceanos. E por tudo isto, caros Colegas, espero poder contar com o vosso voto favorável amanhã durante a votação.

Interventions à la demande

  Sirpa Pietikäinen (PPE). – Madam President, first of all I would like to thank my colleague, Mr Faria, for his excellent report. I would like to repeat my earlier position that the EU definitely has to be in the lead in creating better international ocean governance and an internationally binding convention that is system-wide and covers different fields. It would cover overfishing of fish stocks, marine conservation areas, action needed to preserve biodiversity, combat acidification and chemicalisation of the seas. Of course, action is needed on safer precautionary principles, not forgetting micro-plastics, which is one of the most urgent and newest challenges. There is a lot to tackle in the future, but best of luck and courage to the Commission in starting this as soon as possible.

  Linnéa Engström (Verts/ALE). – Fru talman! Tack föredragande Faria för ett mycket gott samarbete och ett mycket bra betänkande.

De utmaningar som vi står inför med våra hav och uppgiften att reglera aktiviteterna på dem är enorma. Klimatförändringarna påverkar havens ekosystem och fiske utövar ett betydligt tryck på de marina ekosystemen. Störst ansvar har transnationella fiskeföretag, men jag ser med stor oro på en ny aktivitet i haven som håller på att växa fram, och det är djuphavsborrning. Ingen vet ännu vilka konsekvenser det kommer att ha för de marina ekosystemen, fiskebestånd och havens hälsa framöver.

Vi kräver mer insyn i processen där den internationella havsbottenmyndigheten fattar beslut om internationellt vatten till stater för provborrning och väldigt snart för kommersiell utvinning. Internationellt vatten ägs av ingen men måste förvaltas av andra för framtida generationers väl och ve. Jag kräver en transparent process med ordentliga miljöutredningar, större insyn för civilsamhället och en offentlig redovisningsskyldighet för dem som företräder oss i den internationella havsbottenmyndigheten.

  Henna Virkkunen (PPE). – Arvoisa puhemies, haluan myös kiittää kollega Faria erinomaisesta mietinnöstä. Tiedämme, että merien roskaantuminen on yksi suurimmista ja kasvavista ympäristöongelmista ja että iso tekijä siinä on muovi. 95 prosenttia maailman muovista käytetään vain kerran ja heitetään sen jälkeen menemään. Suuri osa siitä päätyy maastoon tai mereen. Mereen päätyy vuosittain tonneittain muovijätettä ja suuria eriä siinä ovat nimenomaan muovipullot ja muovipussit. Näiden vähentämiseksi on tehtävä työtä maailmanlaajuisesti.

On hyvä, että muovipussit laajasti Euroopassa ovat nyt tulleet maksulliseksi tai että niitä muuten pyritään vähentämään. Myös pullopanttijärjestelmää on kehitettävä. Oma kotimaani Suomi on siitä hyvä esimerkki. Meillä on vuosikymmeniä toiminut markkinaehtoisesti pullopanttijärjestelmä, jonka seurauksena 92 prosenttia muovipulloista palautuu takaisin kierrätykseen. Tätä täytyy saada laajennettua ympäri Eurooppaa.

Yksi konkreettinen askel tulee ilman muuta olemaan se, että mikromuovit hygieniatuotteissa on selkeästi kiellettävä. Näin ollen tällä viikolla julkistettava komission muovistrategia tulee todella tärkeään tarpeeseen.

  Stanislav Polčák (PPE). – Já se chci připojit ke svým předřečníkům, pokud jde o hodnocení krizového vývoje, který může nastat právě v oblasti našich moří, našich oceánů. Připomenu článek 14 agendy OSN, který hovoří o tom, že máme chránit a udržitelně využívat moře a oceány, přitom samotný průmyslový rybolov skutečně představuje katastrofu pro biodiverzitu a právě úroveň života v oceánech.

Zároveň chci upozornit na časopis Science, který na začátku letošního roku vydal velmi varovnou výstrahu: 4krát se zvětšil prostor, který lze označit za mrtvé zóny v našich mořích a oceánech. Jsou to především pobřežní oblasti. Zároveň vědci říkají, že je možné tomuto nebezpečí čelit právě dobrou spoluprací s lokálními firmami, zejména se zemědělci. Myslím si, že tohoto závazku bychom se měli zhostit.

Chtěl jsem se ještě vyjádřit k problému emisí z námořní dopravy, které mají stoupnout až o 250 %, ale k tomu už mi nezbyl čas.

  Brian Hayes (PPE). – Madam President, thank you for your forbearance and I apologise for not coming in earlier. I would like to congratulate my colleague on the report. I think it is very important that Europe should lead in this area, in terms of governance of our oceans, not least because of our responsibilities in delivering on sustainable development goals. If we cannot do it no other part of the world will, and it does require from our side a very clear leadership role. We know huge progress has been made in recycling in recent years but much of that progress has been made on the development of markets in other parts of the world. Where those markets are not there in the future, or diminish in the future, that should not in any way reduce our resolve to make sure that recycling rates continue to grow here within the European Union. If we cannot lead on this issue, as I said, no one else will follow us. That is why it is so important when it comes to our seas, be it in the area of industrial fishing, plastics, the whole question of pollution, that the European Union has to lead on this issue. This report challenges those of us within the 28 Member States to do much more in terms of leadership.

(Fin des interventions à la demande)

  Karmenu Vella, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, honourable Members, first of all, I would like to thank the two rapporteurs, Mr Faria and Ms Monteiro de Aguiar, as well as the shadow rapporteurs, for their valuable work. I very much welcome the European Parliament’s own-initiative report on international ocean governance, as well as your support for the general objectives of the Joint Communication and its actions. I would like to thank all the speakers for your valuable comments as well.

This Joint Communication is a major step forward, as this is the first time that the Commission and the High Representative have issued such a policy statement on the oceans. With this Communication, the European Union is taking the lead as a global actor in strengthening international ocean governance.

The success of the ‘Our Ocean Conference’, which was hosted by the European Union three months ago in Malta, confirms our engagement to be at the frontline to tackle global ocean challenges.

The Joint Communication on international ocean governance is an integral part of the EU response to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 14. It sets out 50 concrete and tangible actions in three priority areas for safe, secure, clean and sustainably managed oceans.

Our first priority is to improve the international ocean governance framework. A globalised world needs a more cooperative global governance. We believe in the power of diplomacy, rules and international institutions, but there is no real global governance without a cooperative oceans governance. As a matter of fact, the European Union is deploying the necessary efforts through our cooperation on multilateral, regional and bilateral level, as well as concrete projects and programmes. In the same direction, promoting maritime multilateralism is a strategic priority for the EU.

In line with the EU global strategy, secured and protected seas and oceans can only be achieved through collaborative efforts. In this regard, I very much welcome last month’s decision by the UN General Assembly on a resolution to convene an Intergovernmental Conference to elaborate the text of an internationally legally binding instrument under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), on marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, which the European Union has championed for many years.

Our second priority is to further engage in international action to reduce the pressures and their causes on the oceans. Pressures and causes such as marine litter, the consequences of climate change, such as a rise in sea level, warming and acidification, as well as ensuring the sustainable use of the oceans and their biodiversity, merge into this priority. This also depends on the appropriate planning and management of human uses. Promoting maritime spatial planning and our marine environmental legislation at regional and global level is key in this regard, and I am very pleased to see your support on this issue.

In addition, the upcoming plastic strategy will further complement our fight against marine litter. Oceans are also very important for many developing countries as a potential source of food, of jobs and revenue. We are working with several countries on programmes that support sustainable fisheries, marine protected areas and coastal zone management, climate mitigation in the maritime shipping sector, harbour infrastructure and even maritime security. Ongoing programmes amount to some EUR 590 million, and more are in preparation under the 2014-2020 programing.

Finally, we are working to further advance our knowledge of the oceans. We shall therefore keep investing over EUR 260 million per year in marine and maritime research projects. Modern technologies are opening up new possibilities and we should make the most of them. Another aim is to step up ocean observations and to create a worldwide marine data network which is open to all. We will further develop marine research and science partnerships with key international partners. These actions, whether they are stricto sensu related to the ocean governance framework, or to pressures on the marine environment, marine security and research, are all part of a holistic approach.

There is a logic to this approach. The pressures that the oceans are facing are not only global, but also interconnected, as are the solutions. Yet the success of EU action depends not only on us, but also on our international partners. In this respect, your support on establishing ocean partnerships with key ocean players is highly appreciated. This will provide the opportunity to bring issues of common concern and interest on ocean governance to the table.

  La Présidente. – Le débat est clos.

Le vote aura lieu mardi 16 janvier 2018.

Déclarations écrites (article 162)

  Doru-Claudian Frunzulică (S&D), in writing. – I would like to congratulate the rapporteur for the outcome of this very important report, which constitutes an ambitious response to the Joint Communication and puts forward key guidelines for efficient and effective ocean governance at international level in order to deliver on the commitments of the Paris Agreement and achieve the 2030 Agenda. While recalling the crucial part that oceans, along with coastal and marine resources, play in supporting life on earth and in social and economic development worldwide, I would like to also emphasise that they represent in fact our strongest allies against climate change, with a vital role in the global climate system. However, as widely acknowledged, the environmental health of the oceans is in great peril, which calls for strongly coordinated efforts. Therefore, I fully welcome the proposed actions within the report, which reflect the EU’s commitment towards the objective set out in SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) 14 of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, that of achieving the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources, and to the fulfilment of which, we as a champion of the fight against climate change, have an essential contribution to bring.

  Ivan Jakovčić (ALDE), napisan. – Iznimno bitan značaj mora i oceana, svakim danom postaje još i veći. Oceani su zapravo naši najveći saveznici u borbi protiv klimatskih promjena. Mora su izvor hrane, energije, mobilnosti, lijekova i odmora, ona reguliraju našu klimu, daju nam polovinu našeg kisika i preuzimaju znatan udio ugljičnog dioksida koji ispuštamo.

Pored mnogobrojnih problema koje uzrokuje globalno zagrijavanje, jednu od najbrže rastućih prijetnji zdravlju svjetskih oceana predstavlja gomilanje i širenje morskog otpada. Mikroplastika izaziva osobitu zabrinutost jer je zbog svoje neznatne veličine dostupna širokom rasponu organizama (morske ptice, ribe, dagnje, pjeskulje i zooplanktoni). Strašna brojka od 150 milijuna tona plastike koja se nagomilala u svjetskim oceanima nanosi ozbiljnu ekološku i gospodarsku štetu, uključujući obalne zajednice, turizam, pomorski promet i ribolov.

U tom nam je kontekstu potreban ambiciozan paket kružnoga gospodarstva s ciljevima za smanjenje morskog otpada u Europskoj uniji od 30 % do 2025. i 50 % do 2030. godine te većim ciljevima za recikliranje plastične ambalaže. Oceani nadilaze granice, stoga je potrebna snažna regionalna i međunarodna suradnja između vlada u svim morskim regijama te širok raspon interdisciplinarne stručnosti kako bi se zajamčila održivost zajedničkih resursa te pravilne mjere za upravljanje oceanima.