WASHINGTON –- April 21, 2014 — Secretary of State John Kerry, who has attempted to revive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and tried to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine, on Monday also announced a major conference aimed at improving the health of the world’s oceans.
It marks yet another major topic that Kerry is adding to his portfolio, this one a subject that has long been a personal passion but also the source of political frustration. Kerry in recent months has taken an increasingly urgent and at times combative tone while discussing climate change.
Kerry announced the conference in an online video, citing the powerful connection he formed with the ocean while growing up in Massachusetts.
“The ocean fuels our trade, it provides much of the food we eat, the air we breathe . . . but today, this incredible resource is threatened,” said Kerry, whose ancestors were sea merchants and whose father was a recreational fisherman and sailor who several times sailed across the Atlantic. “It’s threatened by unsustainable fishing, by pollution, by climate change. Indeed, how we respond to these challenges is literally going to help determine the future of our planet.”
The conference will include 400 senior policy makers, researchers, and scientists from about 90 countries, according to the State Department. Senior department officials said this will be the first time a secretary of state has hosted an oceans conference of this magnitude.
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