Global Ocean Conference ends with about 1400 voluntary and action-oriented commitments putting oceans in the center of sustainable development agenda
June 10th, 2017, New York. The 193 Member States of the United Nations unanimously agreed to accelerate action to stop and reverse environmental degradation of oceans at the largest ever gathering of states under the UN umbrella – the UN Ocean Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14, convened in New York from 5 to 9 June 2017.
Approximately 4,000 delegates attended the conference, including 16 Heads of State or Government, two deputy Prime Ministers, 86 Ministers, 16 Vice Ministers, and other government representatives; and participants from the UN system, other intergovernmental organizations, international and regional financial institutions, civil society, academic and research institutions, indigenous peoples and local communities, and the private sector.
The Ocean Conference, the first UN conference of its kind on the issue has raised global consciousness of ocean problems ranging from marine pollution to illegal and over fishing, from ocean acidification to lack of high seas governance. Among major conference outcomes are
Formally adopted Our oceans, our future: Call for Action “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”. In the Call for Action, countries agree to implement long-term strategies to reduce the use of plastics and microplastics, such as plastic bags and single use plastics. Countries also agreed to develop and implement effective adaptation and mitigation measures that address ocean and coastal acidification, sea-level rise and increase in ocean temperatures, and to target to the other harmful impacts of climate change on the ocean. The Call recognizes the importance of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The Call for Action also includes measures to protect coastal and blue carbon ecosystems, such as mangroves, tidal marshes, seagrass and coral reefs, and wider interconnected ecosystems, as well as enhancing sustainable fisheries management, including to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield. Countries are called upon to decisively prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, and eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing;
Report from the seven partnership dialogues that have focused on scaling up solutions, and the voluntary commitments to action;
About 1400 voluntary and action-oriented commitments, addressing all the issues needed to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14—Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources. If fully implemented, these commitments add 4.4 per cent of marine areas to the existing number; many countries announced steps to reduce or eliminate various single use plastics, such as plastic shopping bags, many commitments focused on expanding scientific knowledge about the ocean and developing and sharing innovative technologies to address ocean challenges; some countries announced “no-take zones” for certain fishing and agreed establish systems that allow consumers to source sustainable fish; new commitments were also made to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and to curtail fishing subsidies that are working to deplete fish stocks.
The Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) contributed to the preparatory process by providing regional inputs reflected in the Partnership Dialogues Concept Papers. It also participated in the conference side events, and in consultation with its member states ensured that the NOWPAP successful lessons and examples were featured in the discussions. NOWPAP contributed or its activities were highlighted or mentioned at the several side events held during the conference:
3 R as the Basis for Moving Towards Zero Plastic Waste in Coastal and Marine Environment organized by the UNRCD/ UN DESA Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan, UNEP-IETC (TBC); VITO, Belgium and Office of Green Industries South Australia;
Oceans in the 2030 Agenda: The role of regional governance organized by the governments of Germany and Sweden, together with the United Nations Environment Programme and in cooperation with the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), and TMG – Think Tank for Sustainability;
Can we achieve SDG 14 without looking upstream? Starting at the source to save the sea by the Government of Sweden, co-presidents of The Ocean Conference, and the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM).
The following NOWPAP initiatives contributing to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 were registered as “Voluntary Commitments”:
Strengthening regional cooperation for the protection of the marine and coastal environment in the Northwest Pacific #OceanAction17490 and
Marine environment protection through CEARAC (Special Monitoring & Coastal Environmental Assessment Regional Activity Centre) of NOWPAP(North-west Pacific Action Plan) #OceanAction17558
Additional three Voluntary Commitments where submitted by member states or partners that include co-operation or joint activities with NOWPAP:
Regional Seas Programme for ocean-related SDGs #OceanAction19228
Marine litter management through TEMM (the Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting among China, Japan and Korea) #OceanAction17562, and
Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (YSLME) #OceanAction19068
