People have forgotten or ignored that their world is mostly ocean.
Immersed in our virtual lives, people are disconnected to their
environment. Unchecked growth is status quo. Surrounded by rising
quantities of pollution, people do not see the sea, although they peer
in wonder at the polluted waves breaking on their shores, while peeling
back the plastic from their shrink-wrapped vegetables and listening to
the constant hum of marine traffic travelling across the seas.
Politicians pontificate but laws are toothless, made then broken,
useless distractions from the real issue. Our media is swamped with
images of marine species entangled in fishing gear or plastics. Dead
seabirds, turtles and fish. News of die-offs from eutrophication or
toxic pollution episodes is a regular occurrence. The marketing
alongside these news stories on our screens is still telling us to buy
more, consume more. The growing global population in combination with an
increasing rural-urban migration has intensified demands on waste
collection and treatment systems, urban drainage and coastal
development. Although some regions, cities and industries have adopted
the sustainable practices recommended by the UN to meet the SDGs, the
majority struggle to manage the resource and waste demands of their
rapidly growing urban populations. As a result, the amount of untreated
wastewater entering the Ocean has escalated. Grass-roots movements to
educate and encourage communities to adopt sustainable, less wasteful
products and practices continue to grow. Positive changes can be seen in
those communities. However, the slow voluntary changes made by industry
and the lack of enforcement/legislation made by governments has allowed
marine pollution to increase and the warnings we heard ten years ago on
the implications this will have on our health and livelihoods have
become reality.
Stemming the flow and proceeding with caution (Technically
feasible sustainable future) :