In January 2024, Chile and Palau were the first nations to ratify the ‘Treaty of the High Seas’. This international agreement, also known under its acronym BBNJ (Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction), signed by 90 states, constitutes a historic landmark. It represents the first international treaty designed to protect the vast areas of the globe’s oceans that lie outside national jurisdictions, constituting two-thirds of the oceans’ surface and 95% of their volume.

As a gigantic environmental, economic and cultural resource, home to an estimated 700,000 marine species (of which to date, just 226,000 have been identified and recorded), the oceans are under threat from a wide range of factors. Given that oceans absorb 90% of the excess heat generated by the greenhouse gas emissions trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere, the oceans are warming, which increases their salinity and reduces their oxygen level.

In addition to the excess heat, oceans absorb 30% of the carbon dioxide which in turns leads to acidification and lesser concentrations of nutrients. Many other threats can be added: the rise of sea level which endangers coastal communities and low-lying islands in the Pacific; overfishing and bycatch; the destruction of habitats; pollution; and invasive marine species.

As these threats happen at the same time, they have a cumulative negative effect on the state of the oceans and the global ecosystems, including the well-being of the human populations that depend on the oceans.

The role of partnerships

In its multilateral, holistic approach, the Treaty of the High Seas is an exemplary model of how states can partner for the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of ecosystems. Beyond the level of governments, other partnerships can make meaningful contributions to the same objectives.

Universities and university alliances, over the past 20 years, have embraced social responsibility and environmental protection as key components of their mission.

The Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), as a global network spanning the Pacific Ocean, with 61 member institutions in 18 economies, plays a particularly relevant role among such partnerships.

Data provided by APRU’s partner Elsevier show that global research output in marine research has increased by almost a third in the last five years and is growing faster than other fields. The field is highly international, which is also a trademark of APRU’s multilateral engagement.

Within the five years 2018-22 (which includes the time of the COVID pandemic), APRU’s 61 member universities produced 8,520 scholarly publications in marine research, one sixth of the entire global scholarly output in the field.

Three of the four most prolific countries in marine science (the United States, China and Australia) are member economies of APRU; our most prolific member institutions in marine science are the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Washington, followed by the University of Queensland and the University of British Columbia.

APRU member universities also feature some of the leading global research institutes in ocean science, such as the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

They boast multiple world-class marine research stations across the Pacific Ocean, some of which are located at biodiversity hotspots such as the Great Barrier Reef and the Galapagos Islands.

APRU member universities share research and resources for ocean protection through collaborative research initiatives. These initiatives regularly involve interdisciplinary teams from multiple institutions working together to address complex oceanic issues, none of which can be resolved in isolation.

Researchers from our member institutions collaborate intensely on hundreds of projects related to marine biodiversity, the impact of climate change on ocean ecosystems, or sustainable fisheries management.

Collective research power

Universities – and we at APRU as a large university consortium – have the capacity to leverage their vast collective research power in marine science towards the many challenges the Pacific Ocean is facing.

What is more important, we have the responsibility to do so. In collaboration with the University of New South Wales in Sydney (UNSW Sydney) through its Sustainable Development Reform Hub, we are embarking on a new ‘Pacific Ocean Fellowship Programme’ to educate the next generation of leaders in ocean science in the Pacific Islands, the most vulnerable area of the Pacific.

The programme aspires to nurture a new generation of ocean leaders and marine experts, thoroughly versed in the complex nature of problems present in the Pacific. Students participating in the fellowship programme will receive complementary training spanning international frameworks and accords, marine sciences, governance structures, sociocultural implications, policy-making and economic considerations.

Delivered by APRU member institutions, courses covering these fields will enrich the primary studies of participating students at universities in the Pacific Islands or other APRU-affiliated institutions, thereby enhancing their academic breadth and professional outlook.

APRU’s upcoming Annual Presidents’ Meeting at the University of Auckland (24 June to 26 June) will focus entirely on the threat the oceans are facing and how we can tackle them collectively. The meeting’s official motto ‘Oceans – The World’s Challenges Divide Us, the Ocean Currents Connect Us’, can also be reversed. Emphasising that while the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean separates us, we are called to partner to address the challenges of this largest ocean on our planet.

As we commemorate World Ocean Day, the dedication of universities stands out. Through groundbreaking research and advising policymaking bodies, institutions worldwide epitomise the spirit of partnership and innovation that propel change.

Collectively, they inspire us to envision a future where ocean conservation transitions from an aspiration to a reality. By leveraging shared knowledge and resources, universities can navigate a path toward a sustainable and resilient ocean, preserving its beauty and vitality for future generations.

This is not an option that we are free either to accept or to decline. With oceans driving the world’s ecosystems and sustaining more than 40% of humanity which lives on their shores, the future of the oceans is the future of us all. As António Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, phrased it for Ocean Day 2024: “Humanity can count on the ocean, but can the ocean count on us? Today and every day let’s put the ocean first.”