On February 9-13, 2022, the Government of France hosted the One Planet Summit for the Ocean, more succinctly referred to as the One Ocean Summit. Heads of State and Government, leaders of multilateral institutions, business leaders and civil society policymakers came together to spur several important initiatives in favour of marine ecosystem protection and sustainable fisheries; with a view to fighting pollution. Particular focus was on pollution from plastics, a response to the impacts of climate change, as well as general advocacy for improved governance of the oceans.
The goal of the One Ocean Summit was to raise the collective level of ambition of the international community on marine issues and to translate our shared responsibility to the ocean into tangible commitments.
Among the key speakers at the event was His Excellency President Hage G Geingob of Namibia, whose country has an Atlantic coastline of 1,572km. In 1990, Namibia was the first country in the world to explicitly enshrine protection of the environment in its national Constitution, and the country remains an important voice in the area of environmental protection and biodiversity promotion.
The Southern Times reproduces President Geingob’s remarks to fellow Heads of State and Government and other participants at the One Ocean Summit.
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HE President Hage G Geingob
I would like to thank President Emmanuel Macron for the kind invitation to participate in this landmark One Ocean Summit, which convenes at a time of extreme urgency for our ocean.
The pressing need to act to protect the biodiversity of our oceans is both a duty and an obligation for each generation. Indeed, protecting the ocean for the common benefit of humanity is a collective responsibility of all geographic regions of the world. Our presence here in this beautiful coastal town of Brest is a manifestation of our shared commitment to take decisive steps to stem the decline in ocean health.
Namibia has a coastline that stretches over one thousand five hundred and seventy-two kilometres. Therefore, for our progress and prosperity and that of our landlocked neighbours, who we consider sea-linked, sustainable ocean governance is a shared public good.
Moreover, our membership of the High Level Panel on Sustainable Ocean Economy reinforces our domestic commitments in favour of better ocean management.
The work of the Panel, based among others on a three track approach: the political track, the action track and the knowledge track, with each track emphasising commitment to sustainably manage 100 percent of the ocean area under national jurisdiction through Sustainable Ocean Plans by 2025, provides us with the necessary impetus to reverse coastal erosion, loss of biodiversity and ocean degradation.
The calendar of events for the Oceans Panel for the forthcoming months is indeed rigorous, with planned activities focusing ocean resilience, making the Panel a reference point in matters of global ocean governance.
In this UN Decade of the Ecosystem Restoration, I am pleased that we are mobilizing the international community to take concrete action to preserve and support a healthy and sustainable ocean.
For that reason, Namibia supports the High Level Ambition Coalition for Marine Biodiversity in Maritime Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (HABITAT), which will contribute to strengthening the protection of marine ecosystems. The initiatives resulting from this summit must respond to the impacts of the climate change crisis.
Through equitable and better governance of the oceans, they must lead to a path of sustainable fishing; the combating of plastic pollution and coastal erosion.
This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We have a responsibility to ensure that as our countries prepare for the impending intergovernmental negotiations, we afford our negotiators an opportunity to adopt a strong institutional framework to achieve the goals of conservation as well as sustainable and equitable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
In that vein, Namibia is in the final stage of developing a Sustainable Blue Economy Policy and among others, the objectives of the Policy are to effectively protect, maintain and restore biodiversity, productivity, resilience and intrinsic value of Namibia’s marine and aquatic ecosystems.
Namibia is also developing green hydrogen as a means to limit the impacts of climate change and its consequences on rising sea-levels and global warming.
We cannot continue to talk about threats to our ocean in an abstract way or to offer one dimensional solutions that could hinder the implementation of the recommendations from climate change experts. The ocean gives us food, it gives us life and connects human beings in extraordinary ways.
Therefore, its protection is not optional, but vital for the survival of our global village.
As such, through initiatives such as the One Ocean Summit, we should recommit to act now to protect the vital resource of our ocean for our continued livelihoods.
Merci. I thank you
