24 February 2012: The Global Partnership for Oceans, a coalition of governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private interests, has been launched to address the challenges to oceans management and governance, including over-fishing, marine degradation and habitat loss.

The Partnership, which was launched at The Economist’s World Oceans Summit in Singapore, is supported by, inter alia: the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the Global Environment Facility (GEF); the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN); the World Bank; the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Grid Arendal; the UNEP Regional Seas Programme; and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

The World Bank underlined that the world’s oceans provide 15% of the animal protein consumed in the world, millions of jobs, and critical ecosystem services, such as climate regulation and carbon storage. The Partnership will aim to bring together and mobilize all oceans stakeholders around shared goals. The Partnership’s agenda will be set during future discussions, and in correlation with the preparations for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). [World Bank Press Release] [World Oceans Summit Website] [Global Partnership for Oceans Website] [UNESCO Press Release]