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"We're losing the ocean, and if that happens, we're losing ourselves," actress and activist Jane Fonda said in an interview, quoted by BTA, speaking in support of a future treaty to protect the high seas.

"The ocean provides us with 50 percent of the oxygen we breathe and feeds billions of people. And it's dying," Fonda said.

"I have children and grandchildren and I want to spend all the remaining moments of my life not allowing the planet to be destroyed. I want us to survive, I want the planet to survive. The struggle will determine whether there will be a tomorrow for humanity," continued the 85-year-old activist.  

Global ocean warming is increasing to record levels

The cinema icon, who has been a pacifist, feminist and then environmental activist since the 1970s, presented Rena Lee, the chief negotiator for the High Seas Treaty, with a petition with more than 5.5 million signatures in support of it.

After more than 15 years of informal and then formal discussions, the high seas defense treaty's negotiating session resumed Monday in what it hopes will be the last.

"Yes, there is a glimmer of hope. We have never been closer and the drive has never been greater," Jane Fonda said at a reception attended by some delegates and observers.

"We need a treaty and we need it now. Another delay will be at our expense," she added, describing the damage to the oceans from plastic pollution to overfishing, global warming, oxidation and oil spills.

"So as a mother, grandmother, and citizen of the world, I urge you to put aside the politics, greed, self-interest, and momentum that usually bury big, bold ideas," Jane Fonda also said. 

Jane Fonda

world oceans