15 December 2011: Groupings of island States outlined their positions during the opening session of the Second Intersessional Meeting of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), held at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on 15 December 2011.

New Zealand, on behalf of Pacific Islands Forum members, presented issues discussed at the September 2011 meeting of the 42nd Pacific Islands Forum, and urged the international community to work towards integrated oceans management and specific outcomes, including: the realization of relevant international goals, including to establish a global network of marine protected areas (MPAs); actions that target threats to the ocean environment, including acidification, pollution, and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; the conservation and sustainable management of marine ecosystems and resources; and arrangements that ensure that small island developing States (SIDS) enjoy a greater share of the benefits derived from the conservation and sustainable management of ocean resources.

Papua New Guinea, on behalf of Pacific SIDS, and joined by the Maldives and Timor-Leste, commended Monaco for its advocacy for inclusion of the “blue economy” in the Rio+20 process, and stressed the need to reduce IUU fishing, address climate change and ocean acidification, and streamline UN agencies dealing with oceans issues.

Grenada, on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), called for sufficient funding for the Rio+20 Voluntary Trust Fund. Barbados, on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), highlighted that the Rio outcome must honor all international commitments to SIDS, and called for the third global conference on SIDS in 2014. [IISD RS Coverage of Meeting]