Marc Benioff is chairman and co-CEO of Salesforce. Marco Lambertini is director general of WWF International. They are members of the Friends of Ocean Action, a group of more than 50 leaders who are fast-tracking solutions for a healthy ocean. The Friends of Ocean Action is convened by the World Economic Forum and the World Resources Institute. The opinions expressed in this commentary are their own.

To many people, our oceans seem far too big and too powerful to fail. But the same was once said of history's most famous "unsinkable" ship — the Titanic.

This hubris is the root cause of the dire problems now facing our seas. It's up to governments, individuals and, most importantly, businesses, to lead the charge in saving our oceans before it's too late.

Yet, research from leading scientists and the UN assessments highlights the pace at which ocean ecosystems are failing, marine wildlife populations are shrinking and species are vanishing. The World Wide Fund for Nature's Living Planet report revealed that in a little over 40 years — less than an average single lifetime — global wildlife populations have declined by 60%. This loss is not only ecologically, socially and economically untenable — it is morally unsustainable. Our planet will be less whole without endangered species like the vaquita porpoise , Hawaiian monk seal and North Atlantic right whale. The planet's shallow water coral reefs are now down to about half their original extent and 30% to 50% of the world's mangroves are already gone. This tragedy for biodiversity is becoming a humanitarian crisis.

There is much to be done and no time to waste.