Oceans, seas and marine resources

Photo: The Group of Summit leaders. Credit: Sera Tikotikovatu-Sefeti.

Pacific Leaders Endorse '2050 Strategy of the Blue Pacific'

Pledge to Promote "Accountable" Development

By Sera Tikotikovatu-Sefeti

SUVA, Fiji (IDN) — The leaders of the Pacific gathering for the first time in three years endorsed the 2050 Strategy for a Blue Pacific at the 51st Pacific Island Forum (PIF) from July 11 to July 14.

"The success of this strategy is down to two things, and that is first, the leaders take accountability, and secondly, the people also be accountable for it, " said Fiji’s Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, who chaired the PIF meeting.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 22 July 2022

The World is in Deep Trouble—& the Sustainable Development Goals in Jeopardy

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The warnings came from the highest echelons of the United Nations, from UN Secretary-General António Guterres and President of the 193-member General Assembly Abdulla Shahid.

The message was clear: the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) desperately need help for their very survival, eight years ahead of their 2030 deadline for full implementation.

: Thalif Deen; SUSTAINABILITY; Quality Education; 18 July 2022

Image: The Red Sea's reef is one of the longest continuous living reefs in the world. © Unsplash/Francesco Ungaro

A Tide of Pledges at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | LISBON (IDN) — The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has pledged to enable 100 coastal countries including all Small Island Developing States to realize the maximum potential of their blue economies through sustainable, low-emission and climate-resilient ocean action by 2030.

: Ramesh Jaura; SUSTAINABILITY; Oceans, seas and marine resources; 02 July 2022

‘Ocean Action’ Vital for the Asian and Pacific Countries

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) — As the Second Global Ocean Conference opens today in Lisbon, governments in Asia and the Pacific must seize the opportunity to enhance cooperation and solidarity to address a host of challenges that endanger what is a lifeline for millions of people in the region.

: Asia Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Oceans, seas and marine resources; 27 June 2022

Photo: Naval Officers leading the World Ocean Day March in Suva. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne

South Pacific Plans Coordinated Action at UN Ocean Conference

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SUVA, Fiji (IDN) — This week, to coincide with the World Ocean Day (WOD) on June 8, South Pacific’s experts and stakeholders on the Oceans met here to plan coordinated action at the United Nations Oceans Conference starting in Lisbon on June 28.

Speaking at a WOD event here on June 8, Fiji’s Fisheries Minister Semi Koroilavesau said that the enormous scale of the challenges facing the oceans today can no longer be ignored. “We are not the only ones that hold the future of our ocean in our hands. The entire world must also do its part and that is the greater challenge that calls us for greater commitment and awareness from us all,” he noted.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Oceans, seas and marine resources; 09 June 2022

Image: Surface view of the Atlantic Ocean. Surface view of the Atlantic Ocean

The Oceans Are Overheating

By Robert Hunziker

LOS ANGELES (IDN) — The world’s oceans in 2021 witnessed the hottest temperatures in recorded history. According to the Ocean Conservancy: “From the beginning of industrialization until today, the ocean has absorbed more than 90 per cent of the heat from human-caused global warming and about one-third of our carbon emissions. But we are now seeing the devastating effects of that heat and carbon dioxide.”

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Oceans, seas and marine resources; 16 January 2022

South Africa Insists on Dutch Shell Drilling in Home of Migrating Whales

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A South African court has greenlighted plans by Royal Dutch Shell to do seismic oil exploration in a pristine coastal stretch in an area known as “Wild Coast” in Port Edward over the strenuous objections of local environmentalists.

Oceans Not Oil, which describes itself as the public’s voice against offshore oil and gas development, has been driving the campaign and is the organizer of the silent protest beach walk from Muizenberg beach to Kalk Bay harbour.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Oceans, seas and marine resources; 07 December 2021

Photo: Indian Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh having bilateral discussions with the Commander of Sri Lanka Navy Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne. Source: Daily News, Sri Lanka.

Indian Ocean Maritime Security and Regional Cooperation

Viewpoint by Sugeeswara Senadhira*

COLOMBO (IDN) —Considering that half of the world’s container ships, one third of the world’s bulk cargo traffic and two thirds of the world’s oil shipments traverse through the Indian Ocean, the importance of the peace and security of the ocean cannot be overestimated. Furthermore, maritime transport and logistics are a major component of the Blue Economy, which is the future hope for the economies hit by pandemic and recession.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Oceans, seas and marine resources; 14 November 2021

Image: Coral reef fish swim in French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean. Ocean Image Bank/Jayne Jenkins.

The Ocean Is Now in Need of Support

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) — “The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods” was the theme for World Oceans Day 2021 as well as a declaration of intentions that launches a decade of challenges to get the Sustainable Development Goal 14, “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources”, by 2030.

The importance of the theme of this year's World Oceans Day celebrated on June 8, is underlined by the fact that the ocean covers over 70% of the planet. It is our life source, supporting humanity’s sustenance and that of every other organism on earth.

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; Oceans, seas and marine resources; 09 June 2021

Addressing IUU Fishing in The Interest of Blue Economy and Caribbean SIDS

Viewpoint by P.I. Gomes

Dr P.I. Gomes is former Secretary-General of the Organisation of African, the Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS was previously ACP Group of States).

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) — Illegal, Unreported & Unregulated (IUU) fishing continues to have serious negative effects on the management of marine ecosystems across the Oceans of our world, as a whole; but the practice of IUU is devastating lives and livelihoods of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), particularly in the much admired and turquoise tourist havens of the Caribbean Sea.