Visualising a new relationship with the ocean

WORLD Oceans Day was celebrated on June 8 with the official theme “REIMAGINE: Beyond the world we know, a new relationship with our ocean”, which invites us to change the way we see and care for the ocean.

“For too long, we have treated the ocean as something vast, distant, and separate from us,” notes the World Oceans Day website. “REIMAGINE asks us to close that distance together. To move from passive inheritors of the ocean’s generosity to active guardians of its future.”

The ocean covers more than 70% of our planet. It is our life’s support system, sustaining humanity and every other living organism on Earth.

Furthermore, the ocean produces at least 50% of the planet’s oxygen, is home to most of Earth’s biodiversity, and serves as the primary source of protein for more than one billion people worldwide.

It is also a vital driver of the global economy with an estimated 40 million people expected to be employed in ocean-based industries by 2030.

Malaysia is home to approximately 612 reef-building coral species, representing 77% of all recorded coral species worldwide.

Despite this extraordinary marine biodiversity, Malaysia continues to face significant challenges in reducing marine pollution, particularly plastic waste. Inadequate waste management systems, especially in rural and coastal communities, often result in plastic waste entering rivers, lakes and ultimately the ocean.

Approximately 23.4% of Malaysia’s population live in rural areas where waste management infrastructure and public awareness may be more limited. This highlights the need for greater investment in sustainable waste management and community education.

Beyond pollution, the seas around Malaysia are facing more threats than ever before. Climate change, habitat degradation, over-exploitation of marine resources and biodiversity loss continue to place increasing pressure on our marine ecosystems.

A National Ocean Policy was drafted in 2011 to guide government decision-makers, sectoral agencies and key non-government stakeholders in addressing policy gaps and harmonising initiatives towards the sustainable development and management of the nation’s maritime sectors.

But the policy remains in draft form today despite calls over the years from experts and organisations who want it to be reviewed and updated to address emerging priorities, including the blue economy, climate resilience and the adoption of digital technologies, big data and artificial intelligence in ocean governance.

One of the biggest threats facing the ocean today is rising temperatures. The World Meteorological Organisation says last year saw some of the highest global temperatures ever, and 2024 was the warmest year on record.

The ocean, which provides countless benefits to humankind, is in need of our support. We must work together to create a new balance with it, one that no longer depletes its bounty but instead restores its vibrancy and breathes new life into it.

The objectives of this year’s World Oceans’ Day theme are to inspire a renewed understanding of our interdependence with the ocean; challenge existing systems, assumptions and boundaries; create space for new ways of thinking, relating and acting; and to catalyse collective, cross-sector action rooted in shared responsibility.

The ocean does more than sustain life; it also reflects the values we choose to uphold. It reminds us of resilience, renewal and the instinct to begin again. That journey must begin with us here in Malaysia.

REDZA ZAKARIA

Senior Lecturer

Faculty of Law

Universiti Malaya

(The writer is head of the Maritime Law, Policy and Governance Unit at the Institute of Ocean Earth and Sciences and a member of the Group of Experts for Ocean Literacy under Unesco.)