‘Save Our Oceans’: The Parthenon Illuminated as Conference Starts in Athens

Representatives from at least 100 countries have gathered in Athens this week for the “Our Ocean Conference,” uniting in a concerted effort to address the formidable challenges confronting the world’s oceans.

Greenpeace’s call for enhanced ocean protection sets the stage for a pivotal conference in Athens, Greece, drawing attention to pressing issues such as corporate exploitation, deep sea mining, and the imperative for equitable treatment of coastal communities.

Projected messages like “Our Ocean is Not for Sale,” “Ratify the Global Ocean Treaty,” and “Stop Deep Sea Mining” illuminated iconic landmarks across the city, including Acropolis Hill and the Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounio.

These projections converge on the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, the epicenter of discussions.

Greece’s agenda at the “Our Oceans Conference”

At the core of the “Our Ocean Conference” agenda lies discourse on sustainable tourism along coastal regions, combatting marine plastic pollution, and navigating the green transition in the Mediterranean.

Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis told reporters that Greece will be placing particular emphasis this year on sustainable tourism, microplastics, eco-friendly shipping, and the Mediterranean environment.

“Our Ocean” is the only conference to address all ocean-related issues under one roof. At the previous summit in Panama in March 2023, participants pledged $19 billion in initiatives to protect oceans.

These included projects involving sustainable fishing, the fight against pollution, maritime security, and protected areas.

Greece announced last week that it will launch two new marine parks in the Aegean and Ionian Seas to coincide with the “Our Oceans Conference.”

The plan for a marine park in the Aegean Sea has irritated neighboring Turkey, which said last week it was not willing to accept a possible “fait accompli on geographical features whose status is disputed.” In response, Greece accused Turkey of “politicizing a purely environmental issue.”

The first “Our Ocean Conference” was launched by then-US Secretary of State John Kerry in 2014 and has since been hosted in all parts of the world with the participation of governments, non-governmental organizations, civil society and those with a heightened environmental awareness. The aim was to generate tangible results and actions that would improve the level of environmental protection.

The “Our Ocean Conferences” have extracted 2,161 specific commitments from states and international organizations. These have pledged both funding and regulatory action.

Greece is pushing ahead with 21 initiatives worth 780 million euros ($830.9 million) to protect the seas and tackle coastal pollution, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday.

Mitsotakis said other initiatives underway include campaigns to curb plastic pollution, setting up a monitoring system for protected marine areas because fishing practices that damage the seabed will be prohibited, and constructing charging stations at 12 ports for electric vessels.