7 March 2016: UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Mogens Lykketoft has appointed two co-facilitators for consultations on a high-level UN conference on implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 (Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development). The conference, mandated by the UNGA in December 2015, is expected to convene in Fiji in June 2017, with the Governments of Fiji and Sweden as co-hosts.

In his letter to UN Member States on 7 March 2016, Lykketoft announces his appointment of Jagdish Dharamchand Koonjul, Permanent Representative of Mauritius, and Magnus Lennartsson, Permanent Mission of Sweden, to facilitate consultations on modalities for the conference.

UNGA resolution 70/226 calls for considering the modalities of that conference before the end of the 70th session of the UNGA. It also: notes that the Conference will coincide with World Oceans Day; outlines that all costs relating to the Conference and its preparation shall be financed through extra-budgetary resources, and welcomes offer by the Governments of Fiji and Sweden to co-host and assume the costs of the Conference; and expresses the intention to consider further opportunities to actively involve governments, civil society, the private sector, the UN system and other actors in driving progress and supporting the implementation of SDG 14.

The draft resolution was initially submitted by Fiji, on behalf of Sweden and other countries, for consideration by the UNGA’s Second Committee (Economic and Financial), and approved on 4 December 2015 by the Committee. The UNGA then adopted the resolution at a plenary meeting on 22 December 2015. During that meeting, Argentina said although it attached importance to the sustainable use of oceans and seas, and therefore had joined the consensus on adopting the resolution, it did not agree that a high-level conference of the UN is the way to conserve the oceans and seas. He noted that the process would benefit from the input of technical stakeholders at the national level, and called for the conference not to negotiate outcomes and recommendations, but to garner political momentum.

Also in relation to Goal 14, on 26 January 2016, the UN published the First Global Integrated Marine Assessment, also known as the ‘First World Ocean Assessment,’ to provide a scientific basis for consideration of ocean issues, including SDG 14.

In addition, 22 countries supported the ‘Because the Ocean’ Declaration during the Paris Climate Change Conference. The Declaration reaffirms countries’ commitment to reinforce ocean resilience by meeting the targets agreed under SDG 14, and expresses support for the convening of the high-level UN Conference. Those countries are: Aruba, Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Fiji, France, Guinea-Bissau, Kiribati, Madagascar, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Palau, Senegal, Seychelles, Spain, and Sweden. [UNGA President’s Letter on Co-Facilitators] [UNGA Resolution A/RES/70/226] [Draft Resolution A/C.2/70/L.3/Rev.1] [IISD RS Story on World Ocean Assessment] [IISD RS Story on Because the Ocean Declaration]