Fiji will be hosting the first ever high- Level United Nations Oceans Conference.

This was after a resolution was passed through a consensus by the UN General Assembly yesterday.

The conference is to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14: Conserve and Sustainably Use the Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources for Sustainable Development.

It will be held in Fiji from June 5 to June 9, 2017.

Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Peter Thomson said Fiji’s second secretary at the Fijian Mission in New York, Peni Suveinakama led a core group of experts that resulted in the adoption of the resolution.

“We were central to the adoption of SDG 14 because we recognise that the health of the oceans was of critical importance not only to the Pacific Islands but also to the health of this planet.

“We succeeded in our goal in getting a Sustainable Development Goal on Oceans in the 2013 Agenda. The concern was that we needed some kind of mechanism to drive the implementation of SDG 14 and that was where we brought in the idea to have a tri-annual UN conference on SDG 14 implementation,” Mr Thomson said.

“At the conference we will assess what the state of the ocean is; we get the world’s best scientific information presented to us.

“The conference will involve working out what needs to be done, its roles would be to put together positive partnerships and programmes to ensure the well-being of the oceans.”

The conference, he said would be one of the biggest attracting some of the world’s top organisations and people involved in oceanic affairs.

“The benefits will be that finally there will be a mechanism to reverse the cycle of decline that the oceans are caught up in. The oceans are in a cycle of decline. This is scientifically accepted by such organisations such as the Global Ocean Commission,” he said.

The Swedish government will be co-hosting this conference with Fiji.

Mr Thomson said the adoption of the resolution was a great moment for Fiji because it demonstrated to the international community that Fiji took very seriously our roles of taking responsibility in ocean matters.

Edited by Maraia Vula

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