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UN PhotoUnited Nations Oceans Conference - 7th Plenary Meeting - Part 1
United Nations Conference Concludes with Call for Action to Restore Ocean Health, Protect Marine Ecosystems through Stronger Partnerships
The inaugural United Nations Ocean Conference concluded at Headquarters today, with Heads of State and Government and high-level representatives adopting a “Call for Action” to conserve and sustainably use the world’s oceans.
During its closing session, the week-long Conference also recommended that its outcome document — entitled “Our Ocean, Our Future: Call for Action” (documents A/CONF.230/L.1 and A/CONF.230/11) – be endorsed by the General Assembly during its seventy-first session.
“We are mobilized by a strong conviction that our ocean is critical to our shared future and common humanity in all its diversity,” leaders stated in the consensus document, which recognized an inextricable link between the well-being of present and future generations and the health and productivity of the ocean.
“As leaders and representatives of our Governments, we are determined to act decisively and urgently, convinced that our collective action will make a meaningful difference to our people, to our planet and to our prosperity.”
Reiterating Member States’ commitment to achieving Goal 14 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, known as the “oceans Goal”, leaders called for urgent action by all stakeholders in a number of relevant areas. Those included strengthened multi-stakeholder partnerships, more ocean-related education and greater resources for marine scientific research.
Broaching a major concern of the Conference, leaders called for accelerated action on marine pollution of all kinds, notably long-term and robust strategies to reduce the use of plastics and microplastics, and for incentivising market-based solutions for reducing waste. Expressing support for marine-protected areas and other area-based management tools, they advocated effective measures to increase resilience to ocean acidification, seal-level rise and higher ocean temperatures, as well as to address other harmful impacts of climate change.
On the topic of fisheries, they called on stakeholders to enhance sustainable fisheries management and restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible; halt illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, address its root causes and hold those responsible to account; and strengthen capacity-building and technical assistance for small-scale and artisanal fishers in developing countries.
Decisive action was also needed at the World Trade Organization to prohibit fisheries subsidies which contributed to overfishing, they agreed, calling on the Secretary-General to enhance inter-agency coordination on ocean issues throughout the United Nations system.
Speaking in explanation of position after action, the representative of the United States said his country had joined in adopting the legally non-binding “Call for Action”, emphasizing the need to improve science and research to support implementation of Goal 14. Reaffirming support for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, he said the United States did not support the reference to technology transfer in paragraph 12 and opposed language it believed undermined such rights. On paragraph 13 (p), he said the World Trade Organization was an independent body and that the United Nations must not speak for it, reinterpret its rules or undermine its processes. He also noted the recent announcement of the United States President to withdraw from or renegotiate the Climate Agreement.
The representative of Egypt said that implementing Goal 14 would require a solid basis of facts. He regrettably noted that the language in paragraph 13 (g) did not meet factual standards. He expressed concern over language that implied that the cause of invasive alien species was exclusive to human activities. It was factually incorrect to limit the cause to human activities alone, when they included climate change, temperature rise, salinity and ocean acidification. He expressed his reservation to that section.
The representative of France, calling the Conference a success, said it would be critical to crystalize all goals under the Paris Agreement. France was fully dedicated to upholding that Agreement for the benefit of the world.
The representative of the Russian Federation said discussions held during the Conference had been productive. On paragraph 14 (p), which referred to fisheries subsidies, it was important to consider the subject’s sensitive nature, ambiguity and range of issues pertaining to it. There were hardly simple uniform solutions, she continued, adding that the World Trade Organization had the authority to discuss such matters. As such, the Russian Federation dissociated from the relevant wording of that paragraph.
Making a general statement, the representative of the European Union emphasized the universal character of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which set out the legal framework of all ocean activities. Although the European Union accepted the language in paragraph 14 (c), it regarded it as context-specific compromise solution. A guiding principle for the Union was that there should be no renegotiation of agreed targets, and it would not be able to accept such language in any other context. He stressed the fundamental linkage between the oceans and climate change, reiterating the commitment to the Paris Agreement and calling for its swift implementation.
During the Conference, a total of 1,328 voluntary commitments were received — from Governments, the United Nations, other intergovernmental organizations, civil society, the scientific community and the private sector, among others — to foster implementation of Goal 14.
The Conference also heard today reports summarizing the seven partnership dialogues held alongside its plenary sessions. Those events focused on such issues as sustainable fisheries, marine research and technology, marine pollution, the protection and conservation of marine and coastal ecosystems, and increasing economic benefits to small island developing States and least developed countries.
In addition, the Conference approved without a vote a draft report of its proceedings (document A/CONF.230/L.2) that would be submitted to the General Assembly, as well as the report of its Credentials Committee (document A/CONF.230/13).
In closing remarks, Peter Thomson (Fiji), President of the General Assembly, said work had truly begun on reversing the cycle of decline that human activity had brought upon the oceans. “I am confident the transformation of our world for the better is now well and truly under way” through the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change, he said.
Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Secretary-General of the Conference, said that for the Conference to have a real impact, follow-up action was needed. “We have a long voyage ahead, but we have set off […] with a strong wind in our sails,” he said, saying the Conference had set a new benchmark for multilateral solutions.
Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, President of Fiji and co-President of the Conference, thanked the world for giving his small country such a big voice to amplify the concerns of small island developing States. “These are not normal circumstances,” he said, appealing for more voluntary commitments to come forward.
Isabella Lövin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate of Sweden and Conference co-President, said the event had been inspiring, with extremely productive partnership dialogues that shed light on solutions for saving the oceans and bringing sustainable blue development to all. With the ocean now on the global agenda, “we need to keep the course steady”, she said, adding that Kenya and Portugal had expressed their availability to co-host the next Conference in 2020.
