An international initiative, ‘Blue Guardians,' has been launched by former US President Bill Clinton to address the urgent need for climate change action through recognition of the role of oceans in climate change resilience and mitigation.
The initiative will promote the development of 39 sustainable island economies while increasing their resilience to climate change and promoting marine and fisheries conservation and clean renewable energy.
1 October 2015: An international initiative, titled ‘Blue Guardians,’ has been launched by former US President Bill Clinton, to address the urgent need for climate change action through recognition of the role of oceans in climate change resilience and mitigation. The initiative will promote the development of 39 sustainable island economies while increasing their resilience to climate change and promoting marine and fisheries conservation and clean renewable energy.
Blue Guardians aims to enable blue economies and the sustainable management of natural sovereign wealth resources within small island developing States (SIDS). The initiative will be managed by an Executive Steering Committee comprised of SIDS’ member States and will include technology and conservation partners such as DigitalGlobe, the Clinton Climate Initiative (part of the Clinton Foundation), the World Bank, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, Blue Climate Solutions (a project of The Ocean Foundation), and GRID-Arendal, a center collaborating with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Blue Guardians aims to raise a US$100 million multi-donor trust fund to be managed by the World Bank, which will support SIDS in establishing their own development priorities, while having the necessary tools to make informed decisions about their resources. A first stage of the initiative will be to conduct a climate change hazard and vulnerability assessment to map the most vulnerable states, provinces and cities for each nation and help island governments to identity priorities for coastal, marine and energy resource management and investment.
“Climate change is hurting the sea, which is the lifeblood of our Blue Planet,” said James Michel, Seychelles President. He added that national action to conserve the oceans is necessary, while on a global scale “increased sustainable global governance” will “determine the future of the earth by saving the ocean.”
Dymphna van der Lans, CEO of the Clinton Climate Initiative, noted that “Oceans are the largest natural carbon sinks on earth. Maintaining healthy oceans and resilient coasts is vital to reverse the effects of climate change.”
The countries involved in the initiative include: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cook Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, and Fiji.
GRID-Arendal will support and manage the partnership through the Blue Forests Project, an international initiative of UNEP supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and partners worldwide. [GRID-Arendal Press Release][Clinton Global Initiative Project Information]