The central theme chosen by hosts Samoa for the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) was resilience: encompassing economic, environmental, societal and democratic resilience, with a particular emphasis on the needs of Small Island Developing States. Ocean issues such as marine pollution and biodiversity loss are prominent within the Commonwealth – which covers 36% of national marine waters globally and accounts for two thirds of the world’s Small Island Developing States.
The meeting adopted the Apia Ocean Declaration which states shared priorities for ocean protection and sustainable management. This includes the need to agree an ambitious, legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution at the final UN negotiating session in November.
It also reiterates the urgency of implementing measures agreed at the World Trade Organisation prohibiting some harmful fisheries subsidies and concluding outstanding negotiations on subsidies relating to overcapacity and overfishing.
The statement stresses the importance of protecting our ocean to bolster global efforts to address climate change and biodiversity loss, delivering on the goals of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement.
Key aspects of the declaration include
- recognition of national maritime boundaries in the face of sea-level rise
- protection of at least 30 per cent of the ocean and restoring at least 30 per cent of degraded marine ecosystems by 2030
- urgent finalisation of the Global Plastics Treaty
- ratification of the high-seas biodiversity Agreement on Marine Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (known as the BBNJ Agreement)
- development and implementation of coastal climate adaption plans and strategies, including vulnerability assessments and nature-based solutions, such as blue carbon
- stepped up support for a sustainable blue economy with sustainable ocean plans, recognising the need for 100 per cent management of national waters
- reduction of emissions from global maritime shipping
- enhanced marine renewable energy targets to meet the global climate goal of tripling renewable energy capacity, agreed as part of the UNFCCC Global Stocktake in Dubai last year.
The Prime Minister of Samoa, the Hon. Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, welcomed the agreement, saying: “It is fitting that our first ocean declaration is adopted in the Blue Pacific continent given climate change has been recognised as the single greatest threat to the security and well-being of our people. The ocean makes up 96% of our region; and where we are amongst the first to most immediately suffer the impacts of climate change. The Apia Commonwealth Ocean Declaration for One Resilient Common Future must be a line in the sand from which the world collectively transforms ocean exploitation into protection and sustainable stewardship. We look forward to moving from words to action!”
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