We depend on the ocean more than ever, but we continue to think about it in fragments. At a time of climate and geopolitical upheaval, it is becoming urgent to build a common vision of health
The ocean is everywhere. In discussions on climate, biodiversity, food, health, access to and sharing resources, energy, trade routes or geopolitical tensions. And yet, it suffers from a paradox: we continue to perceive it as a simple decor while it deeply shapes our societies and their balances.
This difficulty in thinking about the ocean is found in the way we approach it. We focus on symptoms treated as separate issues – sea level rise, illegal fishing, plastic pollution, deep-sea exploitation or disappearance of emblematic species but rarely on the system that links them.
The same goes for scientific knowledge about the ocean. They have never been so numerous but they remain scattered between disciplines, institutions and sectors of activity. They are still struggling to transform into a message capable of mobilizing consciences and enlightening public action.
Annual barometer
For the climate, the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 °C has become in a few years a shared benchmark internationally. It has not solved the climate problem, but it has profoundly transformed the way we talk about it. It has made it possible to build a common language, to measure the progress made and to assess the gap that remains to be covered
On the occasion of the third United Nations Conference on the Ocean, held in Nice in 2025, a question then arose: could the ocean also have a common compass? The answer is both yes and no. No, because the ocean cannot be summed up in a single number. Yes, because it is possible to build a shared vision of the transformations that the ocean undergoes and their consequences for our societies.
It is in this spirit that the Starfish barometer was born, the second edition of which was unveiled on June 8, 2026 on the occasion of World Ocean Day. Rather than a single indicator, this annual barometer takes the form of a health bulletin articulated around the five arms of its starfin: the state of the ocean, the human pressures exerted on it, the responses implemented to protect it, the benefits it brings to our societies and the consequences of its degradation for them.
Still insufficient answers
This integrated reading of our relationship with the ocean is updated annually by an international scientific committee based on the latest knowledge. The 2026 edition reveals an ocean whose condition continues to deteriorate, with even the first signs of acceleration. At the same time, human pressures remain extremely strong. Nevertheless, important progress is to be noted: new international agreements have entered into force, marine protected areas now exceed 10% of the ocean surface and financing initiatives are multiplying.
But this progress remains insufficient to reverse the trends observed. In addition, this edition highlights a further cause for concern: the weakening of infrastructure and observation programs on which our ability to understand and anticipate ongoing changes depends. The ocean is awakening to our consciences. Knowledge is progressing, alerts are multiplying. It is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. Each year, the Starfish barometer will return to measure the progress made, the setbacks observed and the challenges that remain for the health of the ocean, in order to enlighten our collective choices.
(1) An initial version of this article was published on The Conversation website on June 8, 2026. Marina Lévy is the author of « Quand l’Océan s’éveilla » with Olivier Poivre d’Arvor
source : sud ouest
