Future of ocean in our hands
“THE future of our ocean is in our hands”.
This was highlighted by Pacific Ocean Commissioner Dame Meg Taylor during the four-day Pacific Ocean Alliance meeting held in Suva last week.
The meeting was to discuss ways in which they could collectively and actively engage in the region’s ocean policy to ensure a healthy, productive and resilient Blue Pacific.
Ms Taylor reminded the participants the main purpose of the alliance in advancing the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ vision under the Framework for the Pacific Oceanscape, which was for a ‘secure future for Pacific island countries and territories based on sustainable development, management and conservation of our ocean’.
“The role of the Pacific Ocean Alliance in advancing this vision is critical as it ensures coherence, co-operation and coordination across the multiple sectors and cross-cutting thematic issues that make up and, or impact our ocean and islands’ economies, societies and ecosystems — to enable concerted action as one interconnected ocean and blue continent,’’ she said.
The United Nations secretary general’s special envoy on ocean ambassador, Peter Thomson, said they had a clear plan to stay faithful to the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN’s Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals.
“In particular, to implement the targets of SDG14, the ocean goal that requires us to conserve and sustainably use the ocean’s resources. Let sustainability be the over-riding principle in our decision-making so that we do indeed meet our moral obligations,” Mr Thomson said.
He emphasised that a healthy planetary ecosystem without a healthy ocean ecosystem and humanity was responsible for destroying it.
“We dump our industrial, agricultural and sewage waste into the rivers and coastal waters. We willfully overexploit the resources of the ocean.”
He also shared that the Pacific had a moral obligation to lead the way in ocean conservation and sustainable management.