LISBON, June 28 — An historic World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement to end harmful fishing subsidies set the stage for participants in an interactive dialogue held alongside the 2022 Ocean Conference today to outline long overdue measures that would help small island developing States and least developed coastal nations reap the benefits of the estimated $2.5 trillion marine economy.
In progress at UNHQ
Environmental issues and sustainable development
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ opening remarks to the United Nations Ocean Conference, in Lisbon today:
LISBON, 27 June — Exploring solutions to address marine pollution — from toxic chemical dumping and wastewater runoff to sewage emitted from ageing extractive industries — speakers called for urgent action to be taken even before the adoption of a global legally binding treaty to regulate plastic use, as the international conference on ocean conservation continued into an afternoon interactive dialogue.
LISBON, 27 June — The ocean must become a model on how to manage the global commons, world leaders heard today as they converged in Lisbon, where the Tagus River and the Atlantic meet, to take stock of multilateral efforts and looming challenges in the protection of the seas of the world.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations today addressed the 2022 Ocean Conference opening ceremony, along with the leaders of the two co-hosting nations, Portugal and Kenya, warning that the world’s failure to care for the ocean will have ripple effects across the entire 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the United Nations Ocean Conference Youth and Innovation Forum, in Lisbon today:
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s closing remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting’s Climate Change Side Event “Keeping 1.5 Alive — the Glasgow Climate Pact and Building Momentum towards the twenty-seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change”, in Kigali today:
Ahead of the Group of Seven (G7) ministerial meeting on global food security, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today appealed for $1.2 billion to meet urgent needs of 8 million children at risk of death from severe wasting.
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the “Sustainable and Development” session during the Pre-Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting, in Kigali today:
In Sri Lanka, the World Food Programme (WFP) is launching its emergency response in the country amid the escalating food crisis. WFP is working to provide life-saving food, cash and voucher assistance to 3 million of the most vulnerable people who can no longer meet their food needs due to the economic crisis there.