The Ref. Shipping will host Ministers and senior officials
The first Commonwealth Oceans Ministerial will put the ocean at the center of Commonwealth action
On Friday, April 19, 2024, the first ministerial meeting for the Oceans of the Commonwealth of Nations will take place in Limassol. Themed “Our Resilient Common Ocean: from Cyprus to Samoa”, the summit culminates the outcomes of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda in 2022, where the need for joint action and rational management of seas, oceans and water resources emerged.
The meeting will be attended by government ministers and senior officials from Commonwealth member states and is an opportunity to build a voice for the ocean. 49 of the Commonwealth's 56 members are coastal states, yet all countries depend on the ocean for trade, transportation, access to resources and security.
While in Cyprus, the Commonwealth ministers responsible for oceans will meet to set out the principles, priorities and actions for a Commonwealth Oceans Declaration and agree a roadmap that will pave the way for the adoption of the Declaration at CHOGM 2024 in Samoa.
“The livelihoods of billions of people depend on the ocean because it is directly linked to food security, global warming, economic resilience and trade. However, climate change, sea level rise, acidification, biodiversity loss , overfishing and plastic pollution are increasingly depleting our seas,” said the Commonwealth Secretary General, Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC
He went on to say: “No one country can solve these challenges alone. The first Commonwealth Oceans Ministerial will put the ocean at the heart of Commonwealth action and provide a valuable forum for ministers to exchange experiences and views on progress regarding the implementation of international commitments and the Commonwealth Blue Charter.
19 April marks exactly six years since leaders at CHOGM 2018 adopted the Commonwealth Blue Charter and pledged to work together to tackle shared ocean issues, as well as take action to safeguard the oceans for future generations.
Since 2018, the Commonwealth Secretariat has expanded its work in this area by creating and supporting Member State-led Blue Charter Action Groups, creating an ocean projects incubator and through technical assistance for governance oceans, including access to ocean climate finance.
Commonwealth ocean facts:
• Commonwealth members include 49 coastal states from all regions of the world and all ocean basins.
• More than a third (36%) of the world's ocean under national jurisdiction is within the Commonwealth.
• The Commonwealth is home to almost half (45%) of all coral reefs, over a third of mangrove forests and rich biodiversity.
• Eight of the world's 20 largest marine protected areas are located in its waters Commonwealth
• The twenty-five small island developing states of the Commonwealth are stewards of vast areas of ocean, making them truly large ocean states.
• One-fifth of all maritime trade and one-fifth of seaports are within the Commonwealth.
• 49 of the 56 Commonwealth member states border the ocean; they host 47% of the world's coral reefs and 34% of mangrove forests.
• One third of the world's marine waters within national jurisdiction
25 of the 33 small Commonwealth states are small island developing states (SIDS) or “large ocean states”, i.e. two-thirds of the global total.
