1 October 2015
High-Level Event Discusses Actions for Healthy Oceans
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Participants highlighted the conservation and sustainable use of oceans as critical to biodiversity, food and life during a high-level event on the importance of healthy oceans for small island developing States (SIDS), which convened in New York, the US.

Healthy Oceans (Photo courtesy of FAO)29 September 2015: Participants highlighted the conservation and sustainable use of oceans as critical to biodiversity, food and life during a high-level event on the importance of healthy oceans for small island developing States (SIDS), which convened in New York, US.

The event took place following the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its associated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 14 on ways to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources. SIDS and other countries have expressed their support for and commitments on SDG 14 at the UN summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda and at the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) General Debate, including the importance of conservation and management of oceans and seas and combating illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing.

The livelihoods of over ten percent of the global population depend on capture fishing and fish farming, and fish are the main source of animal protein for billions of people around the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). However, over-exploitation, biodiversity loss, climate change and ocean acidification and marine pollution threaten the fisheries and aquaculture sectors.

It is still possible to address and reverse these processes, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva observed at the event. He said doing so will “build resilience and reduce the vulnerability of fisheries, farmers and coastal communities.”

Both global cooperation and local actions are necessary to ensure healthy oceans, explained Graziano da Silva. Noting that SIDS are not responsible for the processes that cause climate change, he emphasized that actions by SIDS alone will not be enough to conserve and manage the world’s oceans. He elaborated that “the health of the oceans is not only for SIDS,” but also “a condition for global development and shared prosperity.”

The event recognized the SAMOA Pathway as well as partnerships between governments and the private sector as opportunities for supporting actions on oceans in SIDS. [FAO Press Release] [SDG 14 Website]

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