U.S. meeting on ocean conservation nets $5.3 billion in pledges

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the Our Ocean Conference at the State Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 15, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - International participants at a high-level conference on the world's oceans pledged more than $5.3 billion (4.08 billion pounds) for conservation and designated vast areas as protected waters, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday.

More than 90 countries took part in the two-day conference, the third of its kind, in an effort to galvanize attention to the dangers that pollution, climate change and over-fishing may pose to the world's oceans.