Prince Albert has delivered the keynote address at this year’s World Ocean Summit, saying there are few issues as urgent and close to us as those concerning the ocean.
Monaco’s sovereign and head of state addressed the Economist Group’s 8th Annual World Ocean Summit Virtual Week on Wednesday 3rd March, whose agenda this year is to deliver fresh, robust, and action-oriented insights into creating a sustainable ocean economy.
“At a time when the world is plunged into a deadly pandemic, it is also our duty to focus together on the ocean and its future,” said the Prince in his address. “Because this future is also our future. Such awareness is not fully shared by our contemporaries. This is perhaps the greatest burden suffered by the oceans – lack of awareness of its importance and our indifference towards it.”
In his 17-minute speech, Prince Albert addressed many ocean issues, including the need for efficient management of marine protected areas, as well as the hopes raised by negotiations on marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Prince Albert also spoke about the need to tackle subjects as vast and complex as health, energy, nutrition, the economy, innovation, trade and international security and their connection to the ocean, and the importance of supporting scientific research which he says is currently manifestly inadequate.
“We need to improve our knowledge of the ocean, and support our scientists in their unique ability to understand the mysterious mechanisms of the ocean. That’s why I have made this a priority,” he said.
The virtual summit involves over 5,000 participants and 150 speakers focusing on high-level conversation and policymaking in plenary sessions as well as specific industry detail in six dedicated tracks.
Other speakers include Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg, Actor and advocate Ted Danson, Secretary-general of The Commonwealth of Nations Patricia Scotland and Norman Wray, Governor of the Galápagos Islands.
Prince Albert said that he wanted his message to extend “beyond these circles” and be heard by the widest audience possible: “There are few issues as urgent and close to us as those concerning the ocean.”
 
Photo of Prince Albert during his virtual keynote address