Halting the decline in fish stocks

ACHIM STEINER of the UN Environment Program and JOSHUA REICHERT of the Pew Group state that the high seas containing the largest reservoir of Earth's biodiversity was under strain with the UN estimating that 85% of the world's fish stocks were fully exploited in the run-up to Rio+20 summit in June 2012, being held 20 years after the landmark Earth summit in Rio in 1992.

In their op-ed for the Project Syndicate, "Fixing Our Broken Oceans", they state that fragmented marine management practices, lack of high-seas governance, and over-subsidies for fishing that have resulted in twice as many industrial fishing vessels catching fish as the oceans can sustain.

They advocate an investment of $110 billion over the coming years in strengthened fisheries management including the establishment of marine protected areas, decommissioning and reduction of fleet capacity of industrial-scale large vessels, retraining of workers impacted by job losses, and policy measures to enable a recovery of fishery stocks.

Stand up and be counted

In the wake of India's election to the chair of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee and the impending elevation to the rotating Presidency in August the exceptional composition of the current UN Security Council, SHASHI THAROOR states that New Delhi had to significantly raise its game and take positions on matters that it had previously preferred to duck such as Sudan, Iran, Middle-East and North Korea. In an op-ed commentary for the Project Syndicate, "India at the UN High Table", he states that New Delhi had to augment its resources and expertise on diverse issues and New Delhi had an extraordinary opportunity to showcase its credentials as a major global player and aspirant to a permanent seat at the table.