OUR GOAL

Our Ocean is Our Health!

We all face the reality that Ocean environmental factors, such as pollution and poor ecosystem health threaten seafood quality and safety, in the form of heavy metal concentration on fish or plastic particles being found in different species, posing risks to human health.

Simultaneously marine pollution can indirectly impact humans through chemicals, toxins or other harmful particles such as viruses or bacteria in the ocean water. At the same time, the seas provide numerous benefits to human health and well-being in the form of ecosystem services, including the supply of resources (food, medicines, energy…).

There has been a growing recognition at international level of the need for a more holistic and coherent approach to understanding the complex links between the seas and oceans and human health and well-being.

In the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and given the integrated and indivisible nature of the Sustainable Development Goals, there is room for exploring to what extent, and how, the implementation of SDG 14 can impact the implementation of SGD 3, and in which ways these two can be perceived as interdependent and intricately linked. 

Building on the work being carried out in relevant international fora, including the forthcoming UN Conference to Support the Implementation of SDG 14, Portugal is organizing the Oceans Meeting 2017, which includes a Ministerial segment, to take place in Lisbon on the 7^th and 8^th of September 2017, dedicated to “The Ocean and Human Health”.