UNDP's Ocean Promise at the SDG Media Zone - UN Ocean Conference 2022: 29 June 2022 
Source: UN Web TV

LISBON – At the UN Ocean Conference today, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced that it will enable 100 coastal countries including all Small Island Developing States to realize the maximum potential of their blue economies through sustainable, low-emission and climate-resilient ocean action by 2030. The major announcement comes at a time when ODA to the ocean economy over the last ten years has averaged only US $1.3 billion per year and the scale of public and private investment for ocean restoration and protection remains woefully inadequate.

UNDP’s Ocean Promise launched today at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, underscores that every penny invested in achieving the Paris Agreement is a penny invested in ocean health— the foundation of the sustainable blue economy. The Promise outlines actions in key sectors to accelerate economic growth, create jobs and livelihoods, improve food security, reduce poverty and inequity, and promote gender equality. 

“The Ocean Promise is our blue economy vision that emphasizes the restoration of the nearly $1 trillion in annual socioeconomic losses due to ocean mismanagement. The promise is also about helping countries to tap into new and emerging ocean sectors for increased ocean-related socio-economic opportunities”, stated Usha Rao-Monari, Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator at UNDP.

“We will continue to work across issues and scales, from local to global, in close partnership with governments, UN agency partners, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, communities and the private sector, towards accelerating progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14. The ocean is a vital buffer against the impacts of climate change – saving our ocean means protecting our future.”

Originally published at UNDP.org. Click here to download. 

Press conference: 28 June 2022 
Source: UN Web TV

Photo by UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa