Urgent action needed to sustain oceans and seas

A key priority for Small Island Developing States is oceans and seas, along with coastal areas. Indeed, oceans and seas are intrinsically tied with S.I.D.S.

One S.I.D.S Ambassador recently stated that the people of S.I.D.S are ocean people.

They depend on oceans and seas for their livelihoods; their culture and history are deeply interwoven with oceans and seas. Healthy, productive and resilient oceans are critical to the survival and prosperity of S.I.D.S.

Let us look at the economic aspects. S.I.D.S depend on marine-based tourism (sun, sea, sand) for more than 50per cent of their export earnings.

Fishery earnings contribute more than ten per cent of their G.D.P, reaching in some S.I.D.S as high as fifty per cent. Oceans and seas are also crucial sources of food and nutrition – not only for S.I.D.S, but indeed for global food security and human health.

At a global level, oceans are likewise a critical part of the global economy.

Three billion people, including S.I.D.S populations, depend on marine and coastal areas for livelihoods.

Ninety per cent of the world trade in goods, is seaborne.

The environment and resource dimensions of S.I.D.S are equally significant. Oceans cover three quarters of the Earth’s surface, contain 97 per cent of the of Earth’s water, and represent 99 per cent of the living space on the planet by volume.

Indeed, our very survival depends on oceans and seas, as they are the primary regulator of the climate and an important sink for greenhouse gases. Oceans contain nearly 200,000 identified species, but actual numbers may lie in the millions.

S.I.D.S host high concentrations of endemic species, which in some S.I.D.S range from 19 per cent to as high as 50 per cent.

From a social development perspective, oceans and seas provide critical livelihoods for women, who often assist in artisanal fishery, aquaculture and tourism.

Yet despite our dependence on oceans and seas, we are not doing a good enough job in conserving, protecting and sustainably managing their resources.

Human activity and climate change are causing numerous local and global threats hampering the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and their related ecosystems.

Among these are over-exploitation, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, destructive fishing practices, alien invasive species, marine pollution, as well as increased sea temperatures, sea-level rise, ocean acidification and criminal activity.

At Rio+20, member States recognized that our oceans and seas are not healthy.

They pledged to protect and restore the health, productivity and resilience of oceans and marine ecosystems, and to maintain their biodiversity.

They set forth forward-looking, inter-connected and integrated actions in some 20 areas, starting with the implementation of the international legal instruments, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. In the ongoing consultations on the draft outcome document of the S.I.D.S Conference, oceans and seas are being addressed as a key thematic area.

While there is a diversity of views on how to assist S.I.D.S in the conservation, protection and sustainable management of oceans and seas and coastal areas, there is a clear emphasis on the urgency of actions on the sustainable development of oceans and seas.

I am confident that Member States will live up to the expectations of the people of SIDS by taking specific, forward-looking actions in support of healthy, productive and oceans and seas.