Coverage of Selected Side Events at the Ocean Conference

This event, moderated by Carl-Gustaf Lundin, IUCN, considered approaches to addressing marine litter in SIDS.

Lena Gipperth, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, urged participants to focus discussion on solutions to the marine litter problems facing SIDS, noting appropriate solutions will depend on the context of each SIDS' situation.

Marcus Eriksen, Co-Founder, the 5 Gyres Institute, explained his Institute started researching the marine litter problem through expeditions and in the process found that microplastics are a bigger problem than the trash gyres seen on the Ocean surface, creating a type of “plastic smog” circulating with currents often carrying microplastic clouds from one continent to another.

Bethanie Carney Almroth, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, discussed the findings and recommendations of a report recently produced for the Swedish Institute for the Marine Environment, “Marine Plastic Litter on SIDS: Impacts and Measures.”

Anthony Talouli, SPREP, discussed a SPREP-led regional strategy underway called Cleaner Pacific 2025, which features integrated waste management.

Marco Affronte, Member, European Parliament, discussed recent EU initiatives addressing marine litter, including an European Commission (EC) communication on Ocean governance that includes an action point on marine litter, a package of four proposed EU directives on the circular economy, and the upcoming proposal from the EC for an EU plastics strategy.

Alain de Comarmond, Seychelles, suggested that going forward, what is needed are: more studies of the issue; targeting source countries where the marine litter originates; appropriate laws; engaging the private sector; and educating the public on how microplastics affect health, the economy and biodiversity.

Jakob Granit, Director-General, Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM), said while part of the solution is to invest in waste management and wastewater treatment, the Swedish experience suggests this takes time and steady heavy investment. He said Sweden is: promoting a circular economy; cooperating in regional contexts such as HELCOM and OSPAR; and supporting global campaigns on marine litter and ghost fishing gear.

Monica Verbeek, Executive Director,  Seas at Risk, suggested upstream solutions to marine litter need to focus on keeping plastic from entering oceans in the first place, through regulation restricting single-use packaging and getting producers to take responsibility for their end-of-life products.

João Sousa, IUCN, discussed IUCN efforts to promote dialogue between producers and waste managers. He stressed the importance of research, noting that an IUCN global assessment of plastics in ocean found that clothing and tires are bigger culprits than the commonly targeted cosmetics industry.

Contacts:

• Lena Gipperth (Centre for Sea and Society) | lena.gipperth@gu.se

More Information:

• http://www.havochsamhalle.gu.se
• http://www.havsmiljoinstitutet.se

Isabella Lövin, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate, Sweden, spoke on the immense impacts climate change is having in the Arctic, including record low sea ice levels, warmer Ocean temperature and Ocean acidification. Responding to a question from moderator Johan Kuylenstierna, Executive Director, SEI, Lövin said the most important outcome from the Ocean Conference was that it has started a process in which the central importance of oceans is recognized.

Marcus Carson, SEI, said that while people often see the Arctic as a frozen, desolate place, it is in fact a dynamic place that houses a variety of wildlife and communities. Noting that “what happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic,” he explained that ice loss in the Greenland ice sheet would likely have the greatest impact in the Southern Hemisphere.

Stating that we are seeing distinct changes in the Arctic, since the Arctic Ocean is no longer the stable place it once was, Thomas Armstrong, Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, presented findings showing that current levels of Ocean acidification are unmatched in the last 25 million years. He highlighted impacts that are already occurring such as the migration of fish stocks and degradation of shells.

Joel Clement, US, highlighted that the four priority areas of the Arctic Resilience Action Framework cover science, capacity, governance and finance, and pointed to the first Arctic Resilience Forum to take place in Finland in September 2018 as an important moment.

Matilda Ernkrans, Sweden, underscored the importance of scientifically-based knowledge as the basis for undertaking action and of “passion and patience” to achieve real change. She gave an example of this, describing the process to develop a policy framework for climate change to achieve net zero emissions by 2045 in Sweden.

Stating that “we understand the oceans, now is the time to react,” Liisa Rohweder, Secretary-General, WWF Finland, suggested a scorecard for progress on implementing commitments as a good way to measure progress within the Arctic Council.

Pinsak Suraswadi, Director, Marine and Coastal Resources Research Institute, Thailand, said that climate change is already having effects, quipping that his country now only knows two seasons: “hot and very hot.”

Tom Arnbom, WWF Sweden, underscored the importance of connections between MPAs since the Arctic region is changing dramatically, and called for greater attention on where MPAs are chosen.

On behalf of Stephanie Meakin, Inuit Circumpolar Council, Carson underscored the importance of the need to spend time and energy on integrating scientific and indigenous knowledge.

Jouni Laaksonen, Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN, highlighted, inter alia, the essential role of education opportunities in remote areas in enabling sustainable development. He announced three important events taking place in Finland, emphasizing the Arctic Biodiversity Congress in October 2018.

Contacts:

• Marcus Carson | marcus.carson@sei-international.org

More Information:

• www.sei-international.org
• www.stockholmresilience.org

This event, moderated by Meg Caldwell, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, discussed efforts by companies in “SeaBOS,” a science-based sustainability initiative involving nine of the world’s largest seafood companies.

In her opening remarks, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, drew an analogy between forest fires and damage to the Ocean, urging all stakeholders to act for the Ocean as if they were fighting a forest fire.

Henrik Österblom, Stockholm Resilience Centre, spoke about the methodology behind the SeaBOS initiative. He highlighted work to identify keys actors in the seafood industry, stressing that the 13 main companies account for up to 16% of global catches and harvest up to 40% of the most valuable stocks. He said the priorities of the dialogue with industry were to connect: science with business; fisheries with aquaculture; and seafood industries around the world.

Knut Nesse, CEO, Nutreco and Chairman, SeaBOS, stressed that seafood plays an important role in food production and in rural development but faces challenges such as depleted stocks or antibiotics overuse in aquaculture. He mentioned four taskforces in SeaBOS on: eliminating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fisheries; traceability; regulation; and strategy and governance. He also urged for more collaboration with governments on these issues.

Darian McBain, Thai Union, via video message, underscored how SeaBOS could stimulate global seafood industry collaboration for achieving SDG 14 and said that the most pressing issues were traceability, the status of some stocks, and human rights in fisheries.

Johán H. Williams, Norway, stessed the need for national governments to develop strong partnerships with the seafood industry in order to achieve sustainability. He gave the example of Norway, explaining that the seafood industry relies on sound management, science, technology, regulation, finance and marketing.

Isabella Lövin, Minister for International Development and Climate and Deputy Prime Minister, Sweden, said the SeaBOS initiative is a concrete way to link science with real action. Recognizing the strong link between SDGs 14 and 12 (on sustainable consumption and production), she stressed the importance of the consumer’s perspective, which brings change by allowing credit to responsible industries.

In the ensuing discussion, participants discussed, inter alia: effective ways to communicate with the industry; the importance of transparency; antimicrobial resistance in aquaculture; the importance of NGOs on alerting consumers; IUU regulation under the International Maritime Organization; and the absence of some major players in the FAO Port State Measures Agreement.

Contacts:

• Henrik Österblom (Stockholm Resilience Centre) | henrik.osterblom@su.se

More Information:

• www.stockholmresilience.su.se

This event, moderated by Tehmina Akhtar, SGP, discussed incorporating local ocean management actions into national and regional management frameworks, and developing and implementing local actions in alignment with regional and national priorities.

Adriana Dinu, UNDP, highlighted a new SGP/Equator Initiative publication that provides ocean-related case studies on how local initiatives can help deliver global environmental benefits.

Sulan Chen, SGP, explained the concept of polycentric governance of complex economic systems and its relevance to Ocean governance. She explained how SGP has helped local communities to effectively participate in environmental governance over 20 years, and is now working on building connectivity between local efforts in Ocean governance.

Isabelle Vanderbeck, UNEP, discussed the GEF's five-year Integrating Water, Land and Ecosystem Management in Caribbean SIDS (IWECO) multi-focal area project that tries to tie together work on international waters, land degradation, biodiversity and sustainable forest management. She explained that part of what IWECO is trying to achieve is linking government- and community-led actions.

Christopher Paterson, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), explained SEAFDEC's role, assisted by the GEF, in supporting the implementation of the Strategic Action Programme for the marine and coastal environment of the South China Sea. He explained that partnerships with SGP help governments with local implementation.

Stephen Adrian Ross, Executive Director, PEMSEA, explained PEMSEA's work over 20 years to link national and local governments in implementing the integrated coastal management concept in East Asian coastlines. He explained that 17% of East Asian coastlines are currently covered by integrated coastal management, with the goals of achieving 20% by 2025.

Laverne Walker, UNDP/GEF CLME+ Project, explained that the project covers large marine ecosystems in the Caribbean and North Brazil shelf involving 4.4 million km² and over 35 states and territories. She discussed current CLME+ efforts, with SGP help, to engage civil society organizations in the area in “interactive governance,” in support of implementing the Strategic Action Plan underpinning the project.

Budi Setiawan, Founder, Kelompok Peduli Lingkungan Belitung, Indonesia, explained how his organization, with SGP help, worked to promote community management of local coral reefs, mangroves, fishing zones and tropical forests.

Yoko Watanabe, Global Manager, SGP, said these examples show how SGP can play a catalytic role in engaging communities to help achieve larger goals in protecting oceans, and suggested the experience can be replicated and used in other areas, such as landscape management. She closed the session by quoting Mark Zuckerberg, “change starts local, and even global change starts small.”

Contacts:

• Sulan Chen (GEF Small Grants Programme) | sulan.chen@undp.org

More Information:

• https://sgp.undp.org