Oceans, seas and marine resources

Photo: Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister, Allen Chastanet Speaking at the first-ever United Nations Trade Forum, organized by UNCTAD in Geneva, Switzerland, from 9 to 13 September 2019. Credit: Timothy Sullivan (UNCTAD)

Extinction ‘Imminent’ for Small Islands

By Sean Buchanan

NEW YORK | GENEVA (IDN) – Islands are often emblazoned across tourism pamphlets, glorified as the epitome of natural beauty and portrayed as idyllic places of escape. But this image is far from the dark reality they face.

Changes in sea level, temperature, precipitation, a growing number of extreme storms and floods, visible vulnerability of critical infrastructure such as ports and airports, growing unpredictability, and the fact that there is nowhere to go, is a daily threat for the 65 million people living in 57 small island developing states (SIDS) scattered throughout the world’s oceans.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 12 September 2019

Golf’s Championship Takes a Swing at Single-Use Plastics

A UN Environment Feature

NAIROBI (IDN) – The small Scottish seaside town of St Andrews is replete with a rich history which includes a castle and Scotland’s oldest university, founded in 1413.

In 1754, the town witnessed another first when The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews was established. Today, St Andrews is also the home of The R&A which governs the sport worldwide (apart from the United States and Mexico) and organizes The Open, golf’s oldest major championship.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Responsible Consumption & Production; 02 September 2019

Pacific Islands Forum Issues Strongest-Ever Statement on Climate, Cites Security Threat

By Delia Paul, IISD

FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu (IDN) – Pacific leaders sounded an urgent call to world leaders to maintain security in the Pacific region by seeking to limit global warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels and meeting their global climate finance commitment of USD 100 billion per year by 2020.

The ‘Kainaki II Declaration,’ a document accompanying the formal communiqué from the meeting, puts forward a range of actions whereby the international community can step up actions to mitigate climate change and increase support for Pacific-led initiatives on resilience.

: Admin; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 21 August 2019

Photo: Women at the main fruit, flower and vegetable market in Vanuatu’s capital, Port Villa. ©FAO/Zarfia Amoa

Intensified Efforts to Ensure Food Security and Nutrition in Small Island Developing States

79-Nation ACP and UN's Food and Agriculture Organization Collaborate

By Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK (IDN) – Wrapping up the ministerial segment of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on July 19, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) President Inga Rhonda King said the session had contributed significantly to advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. But she urged governments to "reinvent themselves” and be more agile in finding "ways to engage the poorest and most vulnerable in the decisions that impact on their lives”.

: Jaya Ramachandran; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 19 July 2019

New Report Calls for Breathing Life into Global Goals

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – A new report finds that while the global community talks a lot about sustainability goals, it does not invest enough in implementing them. The industrialized countries play an ambivalent role in their implementation. On the one hand, they come closest to fulfilling the goals, but on the other, they obstruct by incurring environmental and economic costs for third countries due to high living standards and consumer preferences.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 08 July 2019

Photo: Trawler arrested in 2016 by the Norwegian Coast Guard for illegal fishing. Source: Wikimedia

ACP Urges G20 to End Menacing Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Ahead of the G20 Summit in Japan’s Osaka on June 28-29, the Brussels-based organisation of 79 developing countries, the ACP Group of States, called upon Heads of Government to take strong measures to end Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing – an issue at the core of marine ecosytems and ensuring food security.

This has a pride of place in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their entirety and SDG14 in particular, the international community pledged in September 2015 to achieve by 2030.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 28 June 2019

79-Nation ACP Moving into a New Era of Global Partnerships

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – To bring "Asia and the Americas into closer bonds of friendship" with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and "strengthen South-South solidarity", Secretary-General Dr. P. I. Gomes is keen to "build bridges with India on technical cooperation" and initiate a "new partnership" with Peru. He was speaking at the 'ACP Day' celebrations.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 08 June 2019

Call for Renewed Efforts to Resolve Asian Maritime Dispute

Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens

GENEVA (IDN) – June 8 has been designated by the United Nations General Assembly as the World Oceans Day to highlight the important role that the United Nations has played in creating the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Nevertheless there are maritime delimitation disputes that are currently dangerous and require good-faith negotiations to prevent increased tensions. World Citizens have played an important role in the Law of the Sea Conference (UNCLOS) negotiations and in the creation of the International Seabed Authority and its Tribunal on maritime deliberation issues.

: Rene Wadlow; OPINION; 04 June 2019

Photo: A blue whale dives releasing a lovely waterfall. Credit: Michael Fishbach

Ship Strikes Killing Whales That Survived the Hunters

Viewpoint by Michael Fishbach and Dr Palitha Kohona

"Like elephants on land, whales in their watery domain, have claimed our attention now for roughly the same reasons. Ancient, large and driven to the edge of extinction by human greed, we must double our efforts to conserve them," say the authors of this article. Michael Fishbach is Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Great Whale Conservancy. Dr Palitha Kohona spent time in Antarctica in the last Antarctic summer.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 31 May 2019

Photo credit: Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.

Deep Sea Marine Science Is Key to Unlocking the Potential of Our Oceans

Viewpoint by Michael W. Lodge and Vladimir Ryabinin

The following is a joint op-ed by Michael W. Lodge, Secretary-General of International Seabed Authority, and Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary of IOC-UNESCO.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (IDN) – There has never been a time of greater promise or greater challenge for the future of our oceans. This is the topic on everyone’s minds as the international community gathers in Copenhagen (May 13-15) for the first Global Planning Meeting for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).