UN chief: National selfishness delaying global oceans deal

By BARRY HATTON
Associated Press

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says some countries won’t accept that the world’s oceans belong to everyone and their “egoism” is holding up a global agreement on protecting these vast tracts of the planet. Guterres didn’t say which countries he was referring to, but stressed the significance of the oceans to everyone on the planet. “International waters are ours,” he said Monday. The U.N. chief was with senior officials and scientists from more than 120 countries attending a five-day U.N. Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal. Also present were activists frustrated by the failure to come up with international rules that might ensure ocean sustainability. Guterres said people should put pressure on their political leaders to act.