PM BAINIMARAMA CALLS FOR SERIOUS OCEAN ACTION COMMITMENT
U.S. SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY FOR CLIMATE, MR JOHN KERRY said it was important for all nations to discipline and align themselves to the language of protecting our ocean with greater ambition
Fijians and Pacific Islanders are not prepared to accept the decline of marine ecosystems as inevitable.
We are not prepared to watch our reefs die, our fish stocks leave, and our communities be lost to the rising seas.
These were the bold remarks delivered by Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, at the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy Leaders Lunch along the margins of the second UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal on Wednesday.
“We are prepared to act with the faith that we can change the tide. We are prepared to restore the balance that has allowed life above and below water in our islands to thrive for millennia,” he added.
“We all know that our ocean is terribly under-valued. Its most important services are discounted by our outdated measures of national economies and in order to implement the commitments we all know are necessary, we have to scale up ocean-based finance.”
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, Mr John Kerry, said it was important for all nations to discipline and align themselves to the language of protecting our ocean with greater ambition.
“It is almost seven months now after COP26 ended and the promises made still haven’t been fulfilled.
“Now, we have to be very vocal and clear. We have to cut emissions and we cannot afford another year without action. We are fighting for our future and have to ensure we deliver on our promises.”
UN Ocean Conference co-chair and President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, shared similar sentiments and commented that saving the ocean is not our children’s responsibility but ours.
“It’s time for us to move ahead and implement the commitments made on the ocean. We need to implement our actions now, “he said.
The members of the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Ocean Panel) lead nations of highly diverse oceanic, economic and political perspectives.
Driven by a collective commitment to partnership, shared knowledge and a science-informed policy, the Ocean Panel aims to advance the values underpinning a sustainable ocean economy, effective protection, sustainable production and equitable prosperity.
Members of the Ocean Panel include Australia, Canada, Chile, Fiji, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Japan, Mexico, Namibia, Palau, Portugal, Norway and the United States of America.Source: