Prince Albert II welcomed royals, including Princess Lalla Hasnaa of Morocco and Princess Hala bint Khaled bin Sultan Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, to the third edition of the recent Ocean Decade summit.

Showing that environmental matters have truly gone global, an international congress of world leaders and philanthropic foundations headed to Monaco between 14th and 16th June for the third edition of the Foundations’ Dialogue for the Ocean Decade summit.

MONACO IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The first two editions of the summit, held each year to promote exchanges between philanthropic foundations focused on ocean sciences, were held in Demark and Morocco respectively. This year, with Monaco as the chosen venue, it was fitting that Prince Albert II opened with a few words about his thoughts on a topic he holds dear and to which he has clear views on.

“The preservation of our planet is based on four pillars,” he said. “The first is science, without which nothing would be possible. Then there are the political, national and international organisations. They must strengthen the laws and regulations that will allow us to reconcile human activity with the conservation of nature. There are also businesses, whose vital role is becoming increasingly apparent, because they hold the main technological innovations, and we must resolve the issues at stake. Finally, we have civil society, NGOs whose action is increasingly needed, whether they are carrying out conservation enterprises on the ground or playing a political role in raising awareness. These four pillars generally represent grounds for hope in solving the major challenges that we have before us.”

DISTINGUISHED GUEST SPEAKERS

The list of participants included Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, Princess Lalla Hasnaa of Morocco and Princess Hala bint Khaled bin Sultan Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia.

During her speech, Azoulay said, “We need to get to know the sea better and that’s the whole challenge of this decade of ocean sciences… The ocean will survive without us, but we will not survive without it. If we want the ocean to remain as we know it today, we must act and we must act on the basis of science.”

Princess Lalla, in her roles as President of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection and a central sponsor of the Alliance for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, is a key international figure in the fight for ocean conservation.

“I see the sea as a source of unity rather than separation,” she declared. “We must act decisively and quickly to protect our Atlantic and Indian coasts from rising waters and pollution. I say this for Africa, my continent.”

Princess Hala is equally as committed, serving on the Board of Directors at the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation.

The Foundations Dialogue of the UN Decade of Ocean Science is an informal global network of community, corporate and private foundations that have chosen to work together to support the vision of the Ocean Decade.

The event was co-organised in Monaco by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.

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Photo credit: Palais Princier de Monaco