Today is World Environment Day, and as I was literally just putting the finishing lines on this article, the European Commission dropped an incredibly welcome and hugely ocean-positive bombshell.
They’ve officially adopted the long-awaited Ocean Pact a unified, cross-cutting framework to protect marine life, back coastal communities and strengthen Europe’s sustainable blue economy.
Of course, I shall write more on this, here on Voice for the Blue, when more details are revealed.
This all ties in well with a conversation I had earlier this week, and with the article I was just about to publish, though the European Commission rather stole the show. All is forgiven though!
I digress.
Anyway.
I was in the pub with my dad. We were having a catch-up, pint in hand, no ceremony.
He had read my piece on this year's UN Ocean Conference, of course. He reads everything I write. Always has. He’s not one for fluff and doesn’t care much for press releases or policy jargon, but what he does do brilliantly is ask the question that no one has asked yet. He thought my piece was all a little negative...
“Alright then,” he said. “If you had all the money in the world, what’s the first thing you’d actually do to fix it?”
Not “who’s to blame.” Not “what’s the headline.” Simply, where do you begin?
He wasn’t looking for a TED Talk. He wanted the answer a twelve-year-old and/or a country leader could understand. The kind of answer that makes you think, well, why aren’t we bloody doing that already?
Our chat stuck with me, and what does any writer do when they're challenged about something? They write more.
So.
I made a list, and I thought I'd share it with you.
Ten things I’d do tomorrow, if I had unlimited money, zero bureaucracy, and a global get-it-done button.
This is my Ocean Recovery Bucket List. Ten actions, in no particular order, grounded in science, already delivering results somewhere in the world, and desperately overdue. I hope it shows just how much is actually possible and helps explain the frustration that often runs beneath my writing.
We already have the solutions.
1. Protect 30% of the ocean by 2030
We promised 30% by 2030. Time to do more than print the banners.
This isn’t just a poetic target. Our most talented and acclaimed scientists say we need to protect at least 30% of the ocean to stop wildlife from disappearing, help fish stocks recover and keep the planet’s climate systems stable. Why 30%? Decades of research have shown that when at least 30% of ecosystems are protected, nature has enough breathing room to regenerate, sustain biodiversity and build resilience against climate change. Below that threshold, ecosystems tend to collapse faster than they can recover.
In 2022, almost every country on Earth agreed to this goal under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, a global agreement where nearly every country pledged to protect nature and restore biodiversity. One of its main promises is to protect 30% of the land and ocean by 2030.
Marine Protected Areas work quickly. They bring back marine life, store more carbon and support local livelihoods. They are also far less costly than the damage caused by destructive practices at sea.
2. End harmful fishing subsidies
We’re not short on cash, just on common sense.
Every year, governments pour over £20 billion into fishing subsidies that prop up overfishing, carbon-heavy fleets and destructive gear. That is public money funding ecosystem collapse. The World Trade Organisation has agreed these need to go. The science agrees. Most citizens agree. Ending them would cut greenhouse gases, reduce overcapacity and level the playing field for sustainable fishers. A 2021 study in Nature found that eliminating harmful subsidies could reduce global overfishing by 12.5% and make small-scale fisheries more competitive.
3. Ban bottom trawling in biodiversity hotspots
The seafloor isn’t a resource. It’s a foundation. Stop scraping it.
Bottom trawling flattens habitats, destroys carbon-storing sediments and kills everything in its path. It is happening in areas we have already promised to protect. Banning trawling in biodiversity hotspots would bring instant carbon benefits and protect thousands of species, without harming food security.
Spain’s Cabrera National Park expanded its marine protection in 2019 to restrict bottom trawling, and early studies show rapid biodiversity recovery, including of vulnerable coral species.
4. Restore mangroves, seagrasses and saltmarshes
If we want climate resilience, this is where we start.
These ecosystems store more carbon per hectare than rainforests. They buffer coastlines, filter water and provide breeding grounds for marine life. They are also disappearing fast. Replanting and protecting them creates jobs, reduces disaster risk and boosts biodiversity. This is nature-based adaptation, already proven and scalable.
Take Sri Lanka’s mangrove restoration programme, for example. Since 2015, it has replanted tens of thousands of hectares, improving local fisheries and flood resilience.
5. Ratify and implement the High Seas Treaty
We have the rulebook. Let’s get it off the shelf.
After two decades of negotiation, the UN adopted the High Seas Treaty in March 2023, the first-ever international agreement aimed at protecting biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, which make up nearly half the planet’s surface. This treaty created a legal framework for establishing marine protected areas in international waters and regulating human activities that harm ocean life.
Progress has stalled. For the treaty to take effect, at least 60 countries must ratify it, and so far, only 28 have done so. The EU and a growing group of Member States ratified it in May 2025, a major step forward. Major players like the US, China and Russia have yet to follow suit.
This is a rare chance to finally treat shared ocean space like it matters, not just in principle, but in law.
6. Invest in coral reef restoration
Reefs aren’t just pretty. They’re pillars. Rebuild them.
Half the world’s coral reefs have died. If global heating passes 2°C, nearly all will vanish. With them go the 500 million people who rely on reefs for food, income, or storm protection. This is salvageable. Local restoration can work, especially when combined with climate action and clean water. Reef nurseries, heat-tolerant coral transplants and community protection zones are already showing results.
Australia’s Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program, for example, has restored over 60 reef sites with promising survival rates of heat-resilient corals.
7. Make ocean literacy part of every school curriculum
Want people to protect the ocean? Teach them what it does.
Most students leave school never learning how the ocean shapes weather, stores carbon, or produces oxygen. This is a major gap. You cannot protect what you don’t understand. Countries like Portugal have already integrated ocean literacy. Others can follow. It costs little, inspires a generation and ensures climate education includes the largest ecosystem on Earth.
The EU-funded Sea Change project introduced ocean literacy into classrooms in Ireland, Sweden, and Italy, leading to improved student understanding and pro-ocean behaviour.
8. Enforce the laws we already have
Conservation without enforcement is theatre.
Marine protection without enforcement is meaningless. Illegal fishing is widespread, even in designated protected areas. Drones, satellite monitoring, local patrols, and real penalties work, when they are actually funded. The technology exists. The laws are written. What is missing is commitment.
In Palau, strict enforcement of a marine sanctuary using satellite monitoring has led to a 90% reduction in illegal fishing.
9. Support community-led conservation
Conservation should be rooted, not outsourced.
Indigenous peoples and local communities often manage the healthiest ocean areas. For example, the Locally Managed Marine Area Network in the Pacific Islands has shown that traditional knowledge and community-based management can lead to higher fish biomass and greater reef health than many top-down conservation efforts.
These communities are quick to notice changes, fast to adapt and skilled at managing marine life. Yet they receive little funding and limited decision-making power. That is not just unfair, it is inefficient. Real conservation works best when it is led locally.
10. Make ocean action part of climate action
No ocean, no climate solution.
The ocean has absorbed over 90% of the excess heat from climate change. It stores carbon, fuels rain and regulates temperature. Yet it is rarely included in national climate plans. Ocean-based solutions, from offshore wind to restoring blue carbon habitats, can cut emissions and build resilience. They just need support.
Chile’s Nationally Determined Contribution includes marine conservation and coastal wetland protection, setting a precedent for integrating ocean into climate strategies.
So, Dad...
If I had all the money in the world, this is where I’d start. Not because it’s easy, but because it works.
The ocean doesn’t need miracles.
Just for us to stop making poor decisions and start backing the smart ones.
To Dad and anyone else reading this, especially the decision-makers gathering for UNOC next week, this isn’t about what we could do. It’s about what we already know works.
The money exists. The tools exist. The urgency is real. The only thing missing is the will.
Let’s change that.
📌 PS – Please consider restacking or sharing if this piece struck a chord, it helps raise the alarm and fuels this kind of independent ocean journalism that challenges, informs and (hopefully) makes a difference. Oh and if you haven’t already, I would love it if you subscribed, and you’ll receive my articles straight into your inbox, every couple of days!
Thanks Luke. This one is my favorite: "7. Make ocean literacy part of every school curriculum" and with this, I see more youth inspiring more change, as they have already started; especially via grassroots forms of communication, including social media; continuing to use these tools to shift the power more into the general citizens' hands, especially the youth. :) And... they are around longer than us to make more change.