The World Ocean Conference in Manado, Indonesia, opened yesterday with an appeal to the world to act on climate change now. Climate change threatens ocean ecosystems, food security and economic development alike, Indonesia’s Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries said in his opening speech (Xinhuanet).

But when it got down to the political nitty-gritty agreement wasn’t easy to find.

Indonesia hopes that under a new climate agreement it might get credit (and funding) for protecting its vast ocean territory, reports the German Press Agency DPA.

The idea failed to impress scientists. “To get credit for preserving the ocean or avoiding deforestation is like getting credit for not beating your wife,” Tony Haymet, director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California, told DPA.

Scientists and officials from over 70 countries have come to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi for the five-day meeting, touted as the first major global talks on the role of oceans in mitigating climate change and global warming.

Cross-posted from Daniel Cressey on The Great Beyond