UN representative calls for more to be done to prevent ‘ocean change’

Peter Thomson says solutions to protect world’s oceans and alleviate change must be found
UN representative calls for more to be done to prevent ‘ocean change’

By Sean Dudley |


Solutions must be found to protect life in the world’s oceans and restrict changes caused by humans, according to the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean.

Fiji’s Ambassador Peter Thomson (pictured above, third from left), who has been Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the UN since 2010, called for solutions to be identified during a visit to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London, UK.

IMO is the UN agency in charge of developing and adopting measures to improve the safety and security of international shipping, and to help prevent pollution caused by ships.

UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14) is to conserve and sustainably use the resources found in the world’s ocean. During a briefing with senior staff at the IMO, Thomson said that he saw a clear will and commitment across all sectors of the ocean community to enhance conservation and sustainability was evident at the UN Ocean Conference earlier this year.

“We are all aware of ‘climate change’; but we need to talk more about ‘ocean change’ and the effects of acidification, warming, plastic pollution, dead zones and so on,” Thomson said. “The world must know that we have a plan to save the ocean. As it stands, SDG14 represents the only universal commitment we have to save life in the ocean for our grandchildren to enjoy. We have a strategy to drive SDG14 and what is required over the next three years is concerted action.” 

Following the UN Ocean Conference, which took place in New York in June 2017, a firm call to action was declared and supported by the consensus of UN General Assembly attendees. Since then, 1,400 voluntary commitments have been pledged from communities who intend to meet the aims identified at the Ocean Conference.

Thomson will be working with these communities to ensure their commitments were coming to fruition. Thomson will also be working with UN member states to make the most of UN-Oceans – the UN’s inter-agency mechanism for ocean action.

Thomson’s work will extend to working with members of the scientific and business communities, as well as other relevant parties, to help implement SDG14 worldwide. 

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