Only keeping sea, beach clean can protect oceans: Sherry Rehman

Islamabad: Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman on Wednesday said the oceans could be protected only by keeping the sea and the beach clean which was the superior system of nature as an incomprehensible amount of plastic and waste was proliferating in the oceans at the moment.

In her message on World Oceans Day, the minister said Pakistan should celebrate World Oceans Day exclusively.

Sherry said, “We are one of the lucky countries whose border is with the sea. I specially want to highlight the importance of our oceans, the biological and environmental aspects associated with it”.

She added that about 70% of the earth’s surface was covered with water and around 96.5% of the water on the planet was seawater.

“The oceans produce 50% to 75% of our planet’s oxygen. Our earth’s weather, environment and rainfall depend on the sea,” Sherry Rehman underlined.

She regretted that in return, the humans had turned the oceans into piles of waste and plastic. According to studies, there are 51 trillion pieces of plastic in the surface water of oceans alone. Pollution and waste in the oceans is a major concern, she added.

The minister underlined that this pollution affected not only marine life but every living thing on land, adding, “Keep the beach and the sea as clean as your home”.