Seas the day Oceans at risk have crucial moment at UN summit

Decades after Jacques Cousteau, the pioneering French oceanographer and film-maker, called the sea “man’s only hope” and moved from merely sharing his underwater world to sounding the alarm for its future, another much loved naturalist is following in his wake.

- Karen McVeigh NICE

In his acclaimed new film, Ocean, David Attenborough highlights the destructive fishing practice of bottom trawling. The broadcaster says he has come to the realisation that the “most important place on Earth is not on land but at sea”.

His voice is one of many calling for seas to have more governance and protection, citing undeniable indicators of poor ocean health.

The summit took place on the Côte d’Azur, where Emmanuel Macron, the French president and co-host, told the delegates: “Never before have so many heads of state and governments met to discuss the seas.” Sixty world leaders attended, along with 190 ministers. The US, however, did not attend.