19 December 2014: Participants discussed the final report of the Global Ocean Commission (GOC) and its eight proposals on restoring and protecting the oceans and high seas at an event at Monaco’s Musée Océanographique. At the event, Prince Albert II of Monaco pledged his support for the GOC.

The GOC, Prince Albert II Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts organized the event, which took place on 2 December, with the aim of raising attention to oceans and the high seas within the context of decisions that are expected to take place in 2015. The UN is expected to decide on whether to launch negotiations on a new implementing agreement for the conservation and sustainable use of high seas biodiversity in 2015 and to adopt the post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The GOC has campaigned for a new international agreement on high seas protection, including in a petition delivered to the UN in September 2014.

At the event, GOC Co-Chair José María Figueres presented an overview of the Commission’s report, ‘From Decline to Recovery: A Rescue Package for the Global Ocean,’ and its eight proposals, which call for, inter alia, establishing an implementing agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and combatting illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing. He highlighted factors that have contributed to the decline of the ocean and recommended implementing the GOC’s proposals to protect and sustainably manage the oceans and high seas.

Key government officials from over 20 countries involved in ocean-related negotiations then convened in a roundtable meeting, which was moderated by the Executive Secretary of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO), Wendy Watson-Wright. [GOC Press Release] [GOC Website] [IISD RS Story on GOC Petition] [IISD RS Story on GOC Report]