The NRDC and big wave surfer Laird Hamilton have collaborated on an effective campaign leading up to the Rio+20 Earth Summit June 22, 2012 to stop repairable ocean damage. This is an ongoing campaign, which started with the Peace Paddle, which took place earlier this year in Malibu, setting the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest number of paddle surfers in the ocean at one time.
Here’s more from Laird:
Please watch this video and witness that together we can inspire stronger, more effective ocean policy around the world. Being in the ocean everyday has given me first hand and practical knowledge of its great importance to us all. If the ocean doesn’t survive neither do we humans….but I believe that anything is possible and we must come together to encourage our leaders to protect the ocean on our behalf.
Right now the ocean is facing some very real and very dire consequences due to the impact of poor management. We are the ones who enjoy it and benefit from it economically, recreationally and spiritually. It is our job to defend and protect it. Once-vibrant coral reefs are withering away, plastic pollution is choking sea animals and entire ecosystems are being degraded at an ever-faster pace.
But here’s the good news: we can save the ocean from irreversible damage. Each of us can play an important role by reducing our carbon footprint, minimizing the use of disposable plastic and eating only sustainable fish. Together, our actions add up to real changes.
We can’t do it alone, though — we need our leaders to commit to basic protections that will help the ocean thrive once more.
On June 20th, world leaders will meet in Rio de Janeiro to decide the ocean’s future. Urge President Obama to push for critical ocean protections by sending him a letter before the summit.
The Rio+20 Earth Summit could be a decisive turning point for our ocean, but only if officials take tangible steps toward effective protections. That’s why I’m joining NRDC in asking President Obama to push world leaders to agree to three key steps that will make a huge difference for our ocean’s health: • Preventing increased ocean acidification by reducing carbon emissions, creating protected areas to promote resilience and monitoring key ecosystems vulnerable to acidification; • Curbing the plastic pollution that invades our ocean by reducing the production of single-use plastics, holding producers of plastic accountable for the waste they generate and establishing international guidelines for plastic pollution; and • Supporting the development of a new treaty that would protect the high seas and its rich trove of biodiversity by making it possible to establish fully protected marine parks. By taking these three critical steps, our leaders can help protect the ocean’s health, and ours too. Will you join me in urging President Obama to get these important steps taken at the Rio+20 Earth Summit? Click here to send your letter now.
Thanks for joining me to protect the ocean,
Laird Hamiliton
For more information, go to www.nrdc.org
