Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Colleagues,
I am delighted to brief you on the preparation of the 2022 United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in my capacity as the Conference Secretary-General.
Five years have passed since the first UN Ocean Conference was held, in 2017, in New York. Despite the progress made in ocean actions, the health of our ocean is still deteriorating fast, due to multi-dimensional challenges of pollution, overfishing and climate change.
Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has derailed the hard-won progress on the implementation of many SDGs, including SDG 14, and brought a new set of challenges to the achievement of our goals by 2030.
The outcome of the 2022 UN Ocean Conference will therefore be critical.
The Conference, with its overarching theme of “Scaling up Ocean Action Based on Science and Innovation for the Implementation of Goal 14: Stocktaking, Partnerships and Solutions”, will seek to propel much needed science-based innovative solutions aimed at starting a new chapter of global ocean action.
Distinguished delegates,
In accordance with the modalities set out by the General Assembly, the programme of the Conference will include nine plenary meetings, including opening and closing segments, as well as eight interactive dialogues to be held in parallel with the plenary meetings. All official meetings will be broadcast via United Nations Web TV.
Each government delegation will be assigned 4 seats in the Plenary Hall and 2 seats in the Interactive Dialogue Room. There will be designated overflow areas in both meeting rooms. All delegations are encouraged to inscribe to the list of speakers for the plenary meetings and express interest in intervening in the Interactive Dialogues, using the e-deleGATE platform, which opened on 11 April.
As Ambassador Ana Paula Zacarias and Ambassador Martin Kimani mentioned, there will be special events in addition to the official programme, on youth, sustainable blue economy, freshwater and saltwater interlinkages, and ocean action at local and regional levels, to inform the conversation on thematic issues, network with stakeholders and mobilize partnerships.
A series of side events will be organized by governments and stakeholders at the margins of the Conference, both in person and virtually. The online application for side-events closed on 8 May and over 500 requests have been received. My staff is currently reviewing them with a view to allocating time slots and meeting rooms.
Dear colleagues,
Together with the Office of Legal Affairs, my department has been working on the substantive preparations, providing support to the Conference co-hosts, Portugal and Kenya. We are in the final stage of processing the eight concept papers of the Interactive Dialogues. The advance unedited versions will soon be made available on the Conference website.
I also would like to take this opportunity to thank those Governments who volunteered to co-chair the Interactive Dialogues and submitted nominations for moderators and panellists. I expect to finalize the programme of the eight Interactive Dialogues soon and post it on the Conference website.
As you know, the Conference shall adopt a brief, concise, action-oriented and intergovernmentally agreed declaration. The informal consultations on the draft political declaration are currently ongoing at UN Headquarters in New York, led by the two co-facilitators, Ambassadors of Denmark and Grenada, appointed by the President of the General Assembly.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Lisbon Conference will also provide a platform for Member States and other relevant stakeholders to promote the implementation of their Voluntary Commitments undertaken in the context of the first UN Ocean Conference and announce new voluntary commitments.
To date, there are over 1,700 Voluntary Commitments registered by a variety of entities, ranging from UN organizations to civil society and the private sector, demonstrating the inclusive nature of SDG 14 implementation.
I call upon all Governments to showcase your existing and new initiatives as voluntary commitments in the online registry managed by DESA as well as announce them at the Conference, to support the implementation of SDG14 in synergy with other ocean-related SDGs. The online registry can be accessed through the Ocean Conference website.
Logistical preparations are at an advanced stage. As the Conference Secretary-General, I have convened a series of meetings of the United Nations Inter-Departmental Task Force on the logistical arrangements for the Conference and led a planning mission to Lisbon.
The Task Force has been working closely with the host country National Organizing Committee of the Ocean Conference and the management team of Altice Arena to sort out every detail of the logistical requirements for the smooth roll out and implementation of the official programme of the Conference and related events at the venue.
In the coming days, the UN Secretariat will issue the Information Note for the Conference, which will contain all necessary logistical information for participants. The Inter-departmental Task Force will continue to work with the host government to address any pending issues on the ground.
I am confident that we will finalize the organizational preparations by the end of this month, as requested by General Assembly decision 75/578.
Lastly, thanks to contributions from several donors, we will be able to provide travel support to representatives from developing countries to participate in the Conference, with priority given to LDCs and SIDS.
Distinguished delegates,
The upcoming Ocean Conference will undoubtedly be another milestone in global efforts to scale up ocean action.
It will offer an opportunity to give the ocean prime focus in the global efforts towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and our climate objectives.
The UN stands ready to assist the Conference co-hosts, Portugal and Kenya, to deliver a successful UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon.
Thank you.