North Swindon MP Signs Blue Belt Charter To Protect The World's Oceans

North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson has pledged to protect the world’s oceans by signing up to the Blue Belt Charter.

With more and more people becoming aware of the difficulties facing our oceans from overfishing, acidification, plastics and climate change, the Blue Belt Charter is a government policy supported by all parties to address these threats and protect marine life.

Highly protected marine reserves have been acknowledged as a critical tool in helping arrest the declining health of our oceans and the Blue Belt Charter seeks to create four Blue Belt opportunities around the South Sandwich Islands, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha and St Helena.

Collectively these sites would place two million square km of ocean under protection, an area more than six times the size of the United Kingdom.

Justin Tomlinson MP said: “Like millions of people, I saw Blue Planet and was struck by the seriousness of the threats faced by the ocean. The world’s oceans are responsible for 50% of the oxygen we breathe and is the primary source of protein for billions of people, so it is vital that we protect them. We need decisive action, and that is why I am supporting the Blue Belt Charter. It would also put Britain at the forefront of the work to protect the oceans, and set an excellent example for other countries.”