NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS BY PAULINA KUBIAK GREER,
SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID
United Nations Headquarters, New York

 

I will brief first and then Stephane will follow with the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Adam Abdelmoula.

PALAU

The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, today addressed the 7th Our Ocean Conference in Palau.

President Shahid, who hails from the Maldives, said he was heartened to stand on a small island, surrounded by the vast ocean, discussing its importance.

He said quote: “There is no way to protect the Ocean without wading together with all relevant stakeholders.”

In his address, President Shahid cited four main areas on conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and the seas.

First, The President called for an expansion of protected areas. Even though the ocean covers about 70 per cent of the plant, less than eight per cent of it is protected.

Second, President Shahid called for investment in “solid, reliable, and accessible ocean science data and information” which could be used to inform policies and programmes.

Third, the President stressed the important of recognizing and addressing the threats facing the ocean. Referring to the IPCC report launched on 11 April as a “wakeup call”, the President noted that “a warming planet means a warming ocean” with increased levels of acidification and greater loss of marine ecosystems and marine biodiversity.

The fourth point which President emphasized was tackling plastic pollution.

President Shahid connected the timing of the Our Ocean Conference with four key upcoming events: the Ocean Conference in Portugal from 27 June to 1 July; High-level Meeting on the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda on 28 April; High-level tourism event on 4 May; and the High-level Moment for Nature in July.

The President also note that this year marks the 40th anniversary since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea.

His full remarks are online and in your emails.

 

NEXT WEEK

Looking to next week…

On Tuesday, 19 April, Member States will hold intergovernmental consultations related to the International Migration Review Forum.

These will be the third round of consultations to finalize the Progress Declaration.

The Forum will be held at the UN General Assembly starting on 17 May. It will be preceded by a one-day informal interactive multi-stakeholder hearing on 16 May.

Ambassador Rabab Fatima, the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh and Ambassador Olivier Maes, the Permanent Representative of Luxembourg, are the co-facilitators of the International Migration Review Forum.

Also on Tuesday, the High-level Panel on the multi-dimensional vulnerability index for Small Island Developing States brief Member States on their work.

QUESTIONS  

The Spokesperson was asked if a date has been set for the Liechtenstein resolution. The Spokesperson answered that not yet. OPGA has not received a request from Liechtenstein.

The Spokesperson was asked about President Shahid’s activities to support activities on the famine in Somalia. The Spokesperson said she would check if this issue was raised in recent bilaterals.

The Spokesperson was asked about the violence in the Middle East. The Spokesperson said that President Shahid condemned all violence everywhere.