The 7th Our Ocean Conference took place on the Pacific island of Palau, ending with 410 commitments equalling $16.35 billion from participants including from Monaco.
Since 2014, the Our Ocean Conference has been striving to mobilise funds and commitments across six areas of action from partners who want to better manage marine resources, increase the resilience of the seas to climate change, and safeguard its health now and for the future.
The six areas are fairly encompassing and include advancing marine protected areas, tackling marine pollution, confronting the ocean-climate crisis, creating sustainable “blue economies”, advancing sustainable small-scale fishing and aquaculture, and achieving a safe, just and secure ocean.
The end result of this year’s conference was $16.35 billion in monetary commitments from 410 entities, including a substantial contribution from the Principality. Since inception, the event has seen 1,800 commitments given totalling $108 billion.
Céline Caron-Dagioni, Minister of Equipment, Environment and Urban Planning, accompanied by Tidiani Couma, Secretary for External Relations within the Department of External Relations and Cooperation, travelled to Koror, Palau to represent Prince Albert II at the event on 13th and 14th April.
The Our Ocean Conference was initiated by John Kerry in 2014 when he was US Secretary of State. He is still heavily involved in his new role as President Joe Biden’s Special Envoy for the Climate.
Photo by Drec