A two-day global conference to save the world's oceans is under way in Panama.

In the conference political and business leaders, environmental activists and academics are discussing ways to address a multitude of threats facing the oceans.

The European Union has pledged more than 860 million dollars for research, monitoring and conservation in the current year.

Covering three-quarters of the Earth, the oceans are home to 80 percent of all life on the planet, and provide nourishment for more than three billion people.