Latest content: Oceans and natural resources

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

The Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland is in Nauru to meet leaders and other partners this week at the 49th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) meeting.

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.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has met the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, during her first official visit to the country.

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.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland will participate in a high level United Nations forum to find sustainable ways for millions of people to make a living from the world's oceans.

The Commonwealth’s hub for climate finance celebrated key milestones this week, including the mobilisation of £3.7 million for climate-vulnerable countries, with another £135 million in the pipeline.

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.

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. 

Emerging petroleum producing countries have been urged to carefully consider country context when forming local content policies – or risk long-term drawbacks to the development of the sector.

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.

Bloomberg Philanthropies and The Commonwealth Secretariat today announced the signing of a multi-year agreement to explore a number of mutually supportive joint initiatives to aid international trade, innovation and sustainability.

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.

The Commonwealth’s Climate Finance Access Hub (CFAH) is playing a role in the emerging area of Blue Carbon.

Experts in international environmental ocean law met at the Commonwealth headquarters last week to discuss environmental damages liability in relation to seabed mining and mineral exploitation.

The government of Guyana is set to implement new laws which will enable it to bolster its economy, tackle poverty and meet crucial sustainable development targets.

Experts from the Commonwealth will this week provide a preview of an ambitious new initiative to support member countries rebuild and sustainably manage their marine resources.

The Commonwealth Secretariat and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will join forces at the Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has said that climate change requires a complete regenerative revolution in the way we interact with our environment. 

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland spoke of the importance of the Commonwealth’s proposed Blue Charter when she met with UN Special Envoy on Oceans Peter Thomson at Marlborough House.

An expert group of international lawyers specialising in oceans law met at Marlborough House to discuss key legal issues relating to seabed mining in international waters, a frontier industry attracting interest as a result of the increase in global demand for metals.

A blog by Jeff Ardron, Adviser on Ocean Governance at the Commonwealth.

Deep beneath the ocean, the seabed holds rich deposits of minerals: gold, silver, cobalt, copper, nickel, zinc, as well as lesser known chemical elements like tellurium - used to make solar panels.