Advertisement
Opinion
How Asia’s failure to cooperate is killing its rivers and oceans
The recent UN Ocean Conference was a missed opportunity for a region that has the means to save its marine environment, but not the political will
3-MIN READ3-MIN
1
Professor Syed Munir Khasru is chairman of the international think tank IPAG Asia-Pacific, Australia, with a presence also in Dhaka, Delhi, Dubai, and Vienna.
Asia’s relationship with the ocean represents one of the most complex environmental contradictions of our time. The region is home to some of the world’s largest maritime economies, with China, Japan, South Korea and India among those leading the global shipping, fishing and marine trade. It contains about 60 per cent of the world’s coastal population, and those people depend on the region’s coastal zones for their livelihoods, food security and economic survival.
Yet, at the same time, the same region that benefits most from ocean resources is systematically destroying the very marine ecosystems on which it depends.
The 2025 UN Ocean Conference last week in Nice, France offered a stark illustration of this contradiction. While some Asian nations have made impressive pledges – such as South Korea committing to sustainably manage all of the ocean areas under its jurisdiction by joining the 100% Alliance and India’s push for swift ratification of the High Seas Treaty – the fundamental drivers of ocean degradation across Asia remain largely unaddressed.
Select Voice
Select Speed
1x
AI-generated voice