A high-level global Ocean Ambassadors Forum was convened for the first time ever in Malta at the initiative of the Hon. Carmelo Abela, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion of the Republic of Malta and Prof. Alan Deidun, Malta’s own Ocean Ambassador and resident academic at the University of Malta. The meeting was chaired by the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean HE Ambassador Peter Thomson. It was attended by the Commonwealth Secretary General, the Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland; the European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Mr Karmenu Vella; the President of the Intergovernmental Conference on BBNJ, HE Ambassador Rena Lee; the Special Envoy to the High Level Panel on Building a Sustainable Ocean Economy HE Ambassador Vidar Helgesen; the Ocean Ambassador for the Republic of Malta HE Prof. Alan Deidun; the Ambassador for the Ocean of the Kingdom of Sweden HE Ambassador Helen Ågren; the Assistant Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Mr Arni Mathiesen; the Deputy Director, Marine Environment Division of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Mr Tian-Bing Huang; the Head, Water and Oceans Governance Programme of the United Nations Development Programme, Mr Andrew Hudson; and representatives from Finland in its capacity as the Presidency of the Council of the European Union; Mauritius, Namibia and Portugal, as well as Malta’s Ambassador for Climate Action, HE Prof. Simone Borg. The International Ocean Institute and the International Maritime Law Institute of the IMO also attended as observers.
The meeting’s aim was to hold an open and frank exchange of views to have a better understanding of the challenges faced by the Oceans, to take stock of the numerous ongoing global initiatives in this area, and to seek to improve partnerships, collaboration and cooperation to help to deliver in the different processes.
The meeting recognised the importance of Ocean processes already underway: the 2020 UN Conference; the Commonwealth Blue Charter and its Action Groups; the IGC on an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ); the development of the International Seabed Authority’s Mining Code, the European Union’s International Ocean governance and maritime and fisheries policies; the Our Oceans Conferences; the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy; the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s fisheries and aquaculture work; the International Maritime Organization’s maritime environmental work and the UN Decade for Ocean Science. Participants stressed the need to develop and support national, regional and international mechanisms to implement agreed commitments.
The Ocean and Climate Change are inextricably linked. The meeting expressed deep concern about the challenges faced by the Ocean and the many peoples who rely upon it: warming, acidification, rising sea levels, coral reef degradation, proliferation of anoxic ‘dead zones’, loss of critical habitats, species and biodiversity, shifting species ranges, and changing Ocean conditions more generally, as well as harmful fisheries practices and marine pollution resulting in losses of livelihoods, homes and food security.
Participants acknowledged that the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda as a whole play a critical role in the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 14, and are vital to ensuring a secure future for life on planet earth.
Participants also discussed the upcoming important Ocean meetings including the IGC on BBNJ on 19-30 August 2019; the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit on 23 September 2019 in New York; the Our Ocean Conference in Norway on 23-24 October 2019; the UNFCCC Climate Change Conference on 2-13 December 2019 (COP25); the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon on 2-6 June 2020; the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Marseille on 11-19 June 2020; and the Leaders Biodiversity Summit in New York on 21 September 2020 and the UN Biodiversity Conference in Kunming on 1 October 2020.
Participants highlighted the importance of mobilisation of and access to necessary funding for Ocean related projects. Capacity building in the area of Ocean governance, especially for small island developing states, was deemed to be crucial.
The meeting noted the useful role that Ocean Ambassadors play at the national, regional and the international levels, fostering Ocean awareness, cooperation and actions in favour of the Oceans. Malta, as the host country of this first ever meeting of Ocean Ambassadors, expressed its readiness to host future meetings of the group.
