German minister calls for world's oceans to be better protected

German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider on Tuesday called for greater efforts to protect the world's oceans, as the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in France entered its second day.

"I believe that we need a greater focus on the oceans - more political attention, but also from the world," the minister told public radio station Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Schneider said he believes the oceans need to be protected much more.

The third UNOC meeting opened in Nice on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron urging immediate action to protect the world's oceans.

Representatives of 130 countries are in the French coastal city until Friday. Environment Minister Schneider is heading the German delegation.

Key topics on the agenda include tackling plastic pollution, expanding marine protected areas in international waters and debating the controversial extraction of raw materials from the deep sea.

Commenting on pollution, Germany's Schneider said: "If we aren't careful, there will be more plastic in the sea than fish. ... And that's why we need a very clear political stance."

Following UNOC, the international community is set to convene again in Geneva in August to negotiate a binding agreement intended to bring to an end the plastic pollution of the oceans.

Schneider said he "very much" supported this aim and was working to "get several countries on board."