The brother of Labour leader Ed Miliband is on a mission to save the world’s fish stocks.
David Miliband – foreign secretary in the last Labour government – also has over-exploitation of oil and gas resources and other marine threats on his hit list.
He is one of three co-chairman of the Global Ocean Commission, an international organisation launched in February 2013 to “reverse ocean degradation and address the failures of high seas governance”.
The commission aims to reverse the damaging impacts of habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, over-fishing, pollution, climate change and ocean acidification, which it claims are “pushing the ocean system to the point of collapse”.
A new report by the group – From Decline to Recovery: A Rescue Package for the Global Ocean – carries grave warnings about the future of the seas, as well as some ideas for rescuing them from the brink of disaster.
In their introduction, Mr Miliband and his co-chairman, former Coast Rican president Jose Maria Figueres and former South African finance minister Trevor Manuel, said: “It is no exaggeration that all life on Earth, including our own survival, depends on a healthy, vibrant ocean.
“Containing an almost unfathomable diversity of life, billions of us rely on it for food, clean air, a stable climate, rain and fresh water, transport and energy, recreation and livelihoods.
“Governance is woefully inadequate, and on the high seas, anarchy rules the waves.
“Technological advance, combined with a lack of regulation,
is widening the gap between rich and poor as those countries that can exploit dwindling resources do so, while those that can’t experience the consequences of those actions.
“We believe that ocean degradation can be reversed and the current cycle of decline can be transformed into a cycle of recovery.”
Mr Miliband lost out to his younger brother Ed, in the battle to lead the Labour Party following its defeat in the last general-election.
He quit parliament last year to take up the posts of president and chief executive of the International Rescue Committee in New York.