UN Information Centre in Rabat Holds Briefing on Second Conference on Oceans

Rabat – A briefing on the Second United Nations Conference on the Oceans was organized on Thursday by the United Nations Information Centre in Rabat.

This meeting was an opportunity to shed light on the UN Conference scheduled for June 27 to July 1 in Lisbon, Portugal, in the presence of heads of state and government and with the participation of international organizations, NGOs, the scientific community and the private sector, said the UN Information Centre in Rabat in a statement.

The Second UN Conference on the Oceans “comes at a time when the world faces the triple crisis of climate, biodiversity erosion and pollution that threatens oceans’ health and depending economic activities’ continuity,” said the statement.

“It is part of the continuity of the UN efforts to reverse the degradation of marine ecosystems, to ensure their sustainability and accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14),” continued the same source.

The second UN Conference will inaugurate a new phase of global action to protect the oceans and marine environment and promote the blue economy based on scientific research, innovation and green technologies for the protection and sustainable management of marine resources.

The political declaration expected from the conference should mark a renewed global commitment to cooperation to ensure the protection of the oceans, taking into account the interaction with the crucial issues of climate, biodiversity and pollution, according to the communiqué.

It should express support for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) General Assembly’s decision aiming to establish an intergovernmental committee to prepare a binding international agreement on plastic pollution, including ocean pollution.

It is also expected to reaffirm support for the UN Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development and UNESCO’s work in this area.