A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Heads of state, scientists and policymakers are gathering in Nice, France, to take on what is being described as an emergency facing the world's seas. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley tells us what's at stake at the third United Nations ocean summit.
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ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Science and research boats, including a three-mast tall ship from Norway, have arrived in the port of Nice. More than 3,000 scientists from around the world came early to hammer out recommendations for the policymakers.
JEFF ARDRON: We just don't comprehend as humans the impact that we're having every day.
BEARDSLEY: Jeff Ardron is Africa oceans director with The Nature Conservancy. He says there's a real sense of urgency now.
ARDRON: It's become so huge. So there's a very quickly growing recognition and acceptance that the ocean issues are important. They do need our attention.
BEARDSLEY: The problems are myriad - rising seas, pollution, especially plastics, overfishing and the destruction of biodiversity and marine environments, to name a few. Former Secretary of State John Kerry, who served as special climate envoy in the Biden administration, opened the scientific conference.
JOHN KERRY: Never has your knowledge and your expertise been more needed and more relevant than today, and never have we known the time where the life work of scientists is so openly scorned by those who claim to lead.
BEARDSLEY: Glaringly absent are U.S. scientific agencies like NASA and NOAA, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. Their scientists weren't allowed to attend the summit, according to organizers and scientists here. Lisa Levin is a professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
LISA LEVIN: They're really missed. NOAA, especially, has long-term observations that are being threatened that the entire scientific community around the world depends on.
BEARDSLEY: Francois Houllier is the CEO of Ifremer, the French marine science institute that brought these scientists together.
FRANCOIS HOULLIER: There is only one global ocean. Everything is connected. So for that reason, international cooperation is really something critical.
BEARDSLEY: He gives an example. The 4,000 floats that record ocean temperatures at all depths. Their data, relayed by satellite, is crucial to climate and weather predictions and understanding. The U.S. manages about half those floats.
HOULLIER: And so what will happen in the coming years in the U.S. is very important. Will the U.S. be able to continue to contribute to this international and global program, or will they stop?
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BEARDSLEY: Over the weekend, a local band welcomed 450 mayors from coastal towns where millions are - or will be - threatened by rising seas. They hailed from Pacific islands and Norwegian fjord towns. The mayor of New Orleans was there. LaToya Cantrell says her city is on the front line of climate change.
LATOYA CANTRELL: Coming together at events like this, it helps you push for stronger collaboration and partnerships that we need to even demonstrate to the people of the United States that this is real.
BEARDSLEY: Scientists say the world must act now to save its oceans, which cover more than 70% of the planet and are integral to its survival.
Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Nice. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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