New York, 10 March 2022 (TDI): The Permanent Mission of Singapore to the United Nations hosted a meeting of the Group of Friends of Oceans and Seas (GoFOS) to discuss opportunities for ocean action in 2022. Ambassador Burhan Gafoor presided over the meeting.

United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Peter Thompson presided over the meeting. He explained possible solutions for sustainably managed ocean-level, green technology, and innovative uses of marine resources.

A major emphasis was laid on the threats to health, ecology, economy, and governance of the ocean, acidification, marine litter, pollution, unreported and unregulated fishing as well as loss of habitat and biodiversity.

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

Singapore reaffirmed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which provides the legal framework for all states to operate on a common basis in the global environment.

Singapore together with Jamaica, Argentina, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, and the United Nations office of legal affairs organized an event to discuss how (UNCLOS) constitution for the ocean can play a central role in order to achieve their goals.

The UNCLOS was adopted in 1982. Many coastal cities and regions around the world are directly threatened by climate change and related risks, including sea-level rise as well as the increase in extreme weather events that affects people’s lives.

UNCLOS laid out the urgency of using the international treaty to sustain the ocean, protect marine resources, and shield communities facing rising sea levels. Singapore is committed to play part in the fight against climate change.

Law of the Sea was introduced by Singapore delegates considering the consequences of climate change are particularly worrisome with small islands or large ocean states who face an existential threat.

2022 United Nations Ocean Conference

The 2022 United Nations Ocean Conference will begin on Monday, 27 June 2022, and end on Friday, 1 July 2022. It will be held in Lisbon, Portugal.

The 2022 United Nations Ocean Conference offers a unique opportunity for coastal cities and regions to mobilize and demonstrate leadership in taking action to protect the oceans and ensure that the ocean and adjacent coast are sustainably managed to fund the sustainable blue economy.

Ensuring commitments to submit, deliver, bold measurable, and impactful efforts for ocean sustainability were also discussed. Transparency is an essential element of the oceans conference and conventions.

The world has no choice but to respond to the needs of the ocean through multilateral means. It has been two years since the United Nations adopted the 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals that include the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean, seas, and marine resources.

For a small island-state ocean and sea are inextricably linked to its survival and well-being. Oceans provide a livelihood for millions of people and enables food security and maritime trade, regulate the climate along with being an important source of renewable energy.

The 2022 United Nations Conference offers a unique opportunity for coastal cities and regions to mobilize and demonstrate leadership in taking action to protect the ocean and ensure that the ocean and adjacent coast are sustainably managed to fund the sustainable blue economy.

United Nations Ocean Action

United Nations Ocean Action determines and focuses on the conservation of seas and marine resources for sustainable development, the overarching theme of scaling up ocean action based on science and innovation for the implementation of the goals.

In terms of geography, seas are smaller than the ocean and are located where the land and ocean meet. There are seven oceans; the Arctic, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, Indian, and the Southern Ocean.

Earth is the third planet from the sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life, while a large amount of water can be found throughout the solar system. About 71% of Earth’s surface is made up of the ocean. The Earth has been blue for over four billion years because of the water on its surface.

Financial institutions are the key enablers for transition to a sustainable blue economy and public support plays a vital role to close the ocean finance gap, creating and enabling a policy environment that will allow an innovative mechanism for capital flow.

Public-private partnership and science-based planning remain crucial facts to create investment opportunities together with increased ocean literacy and knowledge sharing on risk and long-term opportunities in a sustainable blue economy.

The understanding of the ocean and its contributions to sustainability largely depends on the capacity to conduct effective ocean science through research and sustained observation which provides a common framework.

The framework aims to ensure that ocean science can fully support countries’ actions to sustainably manage the ocean and more particularly to achieve the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

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