Over 100 countries, including Albania, have made a public commitment to work towards a goal of protecting at least 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
Often referred to as 30 by 30, the milestone was shared during the “Transformative Action for Nature and People” event during the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The move has been welcomed as a much-needed sign of momentum around the need to protect the world’s oceans.
The 30 by 30 ocean target includes key objectives such as enhancing climate change resilience and reversing the loss of biodiversity. This, it’s hoped will deliver better outcomes for the world’s population. the goal is one of the 21 action targets which are being negotiated as a part of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. This is a 10-year strategy that will put humanity on a path towards “living in harmony with nature”.
Albania signed the pledge along with regional neighbours like Greece, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
To help achieve many of the goals, the Bezos Earth Fund pledged $1 billion on 20 September. A further $5 billion was promised by nine organisations that form the Protecting the Planet Challenge.
It’s likely Albania will face a number of challenges in implementing such goals. Currently, there is no state recycling available and Tirana is the fourth biggest contributor of plastic waste to the Mediterranean. Issues regarding polluted water impact its neighbouring countries such as Croatia that have worked on initiatives to stem the flow.
