Caribbean: Secretary-General of the Commonwealth– Patricia Scotland shared the activities and meetings of her one day at the United Nations Ocean Conference- UNOC2022. During the day, Scotland became part of the numerous activities where she outlined the importance of the Ocean and ways to preserve the natural asset.
Firstly, she delivered the Commonwealth statement at the plenary of the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC 2022). Her message: The Ocean is the most precious, life-giving natural wonder on our planet. She stated that the oceans are undervalued, under-researched and recklessly exploited. Everyone must right this wrong.
Patricia Scotland further noted, “At the #Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting #CHOGM2022 last week, we launched our new Commonwealth #BlueCharter Project Incubator – the first designed to assist Governments. We aim to incubate at least 30 country-led ocean projects. What we need now is a partnership.”
In her address, she called on everyone – from governments and international organisations to NGOs, businesses & philanthropists – to dig deeper. She added that it is only by joining hands that they can build a healthier, more resilient, more prosperous and more beautiful blue future – for the Commonwealth and everyone.
Secondly, Patricia Scotland had a great conversation with Essam Yasin Mohammad, who is the Director General of the World Fish Centre at UNOC2022, on how to ensure global #FoodSecurity while sustainably managing our precious ocean resources. In the meeting, they have discussed synergies with Blue Charter work on sustainable Coastal Fisheries and Blue Economy.
Further, she had also interactive engagements with Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian at #UNOC22 this week, focused on accelerating #innovation to support the sustainable #Blue Economy. They looked at key issues related to financing, building partnerships & cultivating local knowledge.
In the meeting, she highlighted that, in particular, we need to support the innovations of our young people – 60% of #Commonwealth’s 2.5 billion people are under the age of 30 and bursting with ideas and solutions, including on #Ocean Action.
“This is why I launched the Commonwealth #Innovation Awards to shine a light on the amazing homegrown solutions in our countries, and the #Commonwealth Innovation Hub to document, compile and share scaleable projects across our regions, “Patricia Scotland underlined.
