Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have enlisted the support of international sporting superstars as they get set to front the United Nations in Portugal on Sunday over growing concerns about the alarming state of the world’s oceans.

The double America’s Cup winners and Olympic champion sailors are co-founders of Live Ocean and are using their increasingly effective platform as a voice for change.

They have launched “Voices For A Healthy Ocean” – a declaration signed by leading local and international sporting and ocean communities.

Burling and Tuke will personally present this to the United Nations’ World Ocean Conference this weekend.

Gathering for the first time in five years the conference will be attended by heads of government and state, along with representatives from the scientific and private sectors.

The aim is to chart a new course to ensure the protection and conservation of the oceans “to avert catastrophic consequences for the planet”.

The impressive list of athletes supporting the Kiwi push include French Open tennis winner Ana Ivanovic, double world surfing champion John John Florence, All Blacks captain Sam Cane, American Olympic swimmer Elizabeth Biesel, and a long list of yachting stars headed by America’s Cup winner Jimmy Spithill and British double Olympic champion Hannah Mills.

“The science is clear the ocean is changing very rapidly but both attitudes and policy aren’t keeping pace,” says Sally Paterson, chief executive of Live Ocean Foundation.

“The people who have signed this declaration have platforms of their own they’re already using or are prepared to use to move this agenda forward. This is an all-hands-on deck moment, and we need to respond with urgency and focus.”

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