Future Oceans
A Crucial Moment in History: Paris 2015
BY JEAN-MICHEL COUSTEAU AND JACLYN MANDOSKE
Amazonian communities are particularly at risk
I
have spent my entire life exploring the oceans. At first, I didn’t have a choice. When I was seven years old, my father, Jacques Cousteau, strapped his newly-invented scuba gear on my back, gave my brother and I a nudge from our tiny boat in the Mediterranean Sea, and into the ocean we went. When we hit the water, our eyes widened and we were amazed with the fishes and colourful life we saw. We became instant divers, and I have never stopped since. My father was an adventurous man with an unwavering drive and inquisitive spirit. Naturally, exploring the sea became his greatest adventure, with my family and me as companions on his grand journey of exploration and discovery in the largest ecosystem on our planet, covering over 70 percent of Earth’s surface: the ocean. Many things have changed since my childhood days growing up in the south of France. I have witnessed beautiful, untouched treasures on earth, and I have seen the destructive consequences of the careless actions of humans. In my seventy years of diving, I have never stopped wanting to explore more, learn more and share more about what I know. And now, I have never been more excited, or optimistic, about the future. In December 2015 in Paris, world leaders from 196 countries will come together for the United Nations Climate Conference to discuss the greatest challenge facing humankind: global climate change and its implications. It is a meeting that will determine the future of the world’s economic development and the course we will all take together.
For decades, we have been hearing scientists talk about the threat of climate change. The burning of fossil fuels by humans releases carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere, which is turn causes the temperature of our planet to rise. The consequences are broad and cascading: from the natural environment to human communities, the impacts will continue to affect every one around the world unless we take real action to do something about it. Discussions about the impact of climate change have been going on for quite some time now. My father, who was first and foremost an explorer
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and adventurer, became increasingly aware of the environmental state of our planet over time, as his team traveled across the seas aboard Calypso. Through our journeys, we began witnessing the ravaging effects of pollution and overfishing, and, most disturbing, the repercussions felt by societies that depended on their environment for their health and economic wellbeing. In 1992, world leaders came together for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, called ‘Earth Summit’. It was a gathering intended to discuss the global landscape of the environment, the first time so many nations came together to address collectively the state of the planet. Included in the discussions were issues related to the production of toxic chemicals, problems causes by polluted air and water, the growing scarcity of freshwater and alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuels that scientists have long stated were linked to climate change. As an international diplomat for the environment, my father spoke at the conference, addressing not only those present, but also sending his message and concerns to people around the world. The most memorable speech and one that shook everyone awake came from 12-year old Severn Cullis-Suzuki, who looked at the roomful of delegates and pleaded: why won’t you protect my future? She was known as “the girl who silenced the world.” Twenty years later, I attended the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or ‘Rio +20’. Like my father, I too possessed a deep concern over the growing impact of unsustainable development and the
Photos: © Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society
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