Latest content: Commonwealth Blue Charter

Protecting the ocean today is the best way of ensuring prosperity for future generations, says Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland. Her remarks came at a session on the Commonwealth Blue Charter on sustainable ocean governance, held on the margins of the 49th Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru, which ran from 3 to 6 September 2018

Cradled in the South Pacific, my home country Vanuatu is made mostly of ocean.  The Pacific covers 98% of the national jurisdiction. Here, some 280,000 Ni-Vanuatu like myself live simply off the land and sea.  We view the ocean as a living ‘bridge’ that connects islands and continents while sustaining life in all its forms.

It is hard to imagine that only 14 years ago Sri Lanka was severely devastated by the tsunami, triggered by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean.

The Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, says urgent action is needed to save the world's oceans, since the livelihoods of millions of people depend on their preservation and sustainable development.

An innovative new toolkit has been piloted in Barbados to support lawmakers in assessing national laws and outlining reforms towards implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The Republic of Mauritius will share valuable marine protection know-how with other Commonwealth countries, using the Commonwealth Blue Charter as a platform to exchange best practices, collaborate on research, and carry out training workshops.

The president of the Seychelles, Danny Faure, has credited the Commonwealth for propelling his island country forward as an advocate for ocean issues and climate change.

Malta is allocating the oceanography grants through the Commonwealth Small States Centre of Excellence (CSSCE). They will fund a one-week course in operational oceanography for blue growth.

Youth has an increasingly crucial role to play in reducing pollution and protecting our planet, said the Antigua and Barbuda Minister of Health and Environment, Molwyn Joseph, at an event to commemorate World Environment Day.

International concern for the plight of the global ocean is at an all-time high. In April this year, the 53 countries of the Commonwealth adopted the Commonwealth Blue Charter, creating a bright blue beacon to guide cooperative action on ocean issues. 

In August 2017, Jeff Ardron, Ocean Governance Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat, reported on the first High-level Pacific Blue Economy Conference, in Fiji: “The ‘Blue Economy’ is a term that appears to have been invented independently by both Pacific Islanders and the colourful German entrepreneur Günter Pauli.

Commonwealth leaders today agreed on a bold, co-ordinated push to protect the ocean from the effects of climate change, pollution and over-fishing. Their landmark decision to adopt a Commonwealth Blue Charter will affect one third of the world’s national coastal waters, helping to sustain livelihoods and ecosystems globally.