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Add to Preferred Sources“Real experiences” are what drove some Commonwealth countries to take up the banner for the ocean, stepping forward to champion action groups of like-minded members working together to tackle some of the world’s most pressing ocean problems.
When 53 countries agreed on the Commonwealth Blue Charter on ocean governance in April 2018, it inspired a new model for intergovernmental cooperation, whereby countries are invited to establish, join and drive voluntary and action-oriented alliances, based on their own shared priorities.
“This not about the Commonwealth or a high-level body saying to countries, ‘Thou shall do this’, it was the countries themselves saying, ‘We get it, we want to work together with other countries to help fix it’,” said Commonwealth adviser on ocean governance Jeff Ardron.
Sri Lanka, for instance, vulnerable to disastrous tsunamis and storms, recognised the importance of coastal protection and stepped up to lead the action group on mangroves. Vanuatu, shocked at a study showing the amount of plastic polluting their coastal waters, volunteered to co-lead the action group on marine pollution with the United Kingdom. Fiji, a small island developing state in the Pacific, came forward to lead on ocean and climate change. To date, nine action groups have been set up, with varying membership.
At the event held at the COP24 UK pavilion, Deputy Director for Marine Policy at the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Gemma Harper highlighted the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance co-led by the UK and Vanuatu.
“The UK, together with Vanuatu, is calling on other countries to pledge action on plastics, be this by a ban on microbeads a commitment to cutting down on single-use plastic bags, or other steps to eliminate avoidable plastic waste,” she urged.
Vanuatu banned single-use plastic bags, plastic straws and polystyrene food containers in July 2018.
“The Commonwealth Blue Charter is very important to us because it commits a number of counties to the same objectives. If Vanuatu were to do this alone it wouldn’t get very far. So by having the Blue Charter, we can commit the Commonwealth – already covering more than half of the oceans in the world,” said Vanuatu Foreign Affairs minister Ralph Regenvanu.
Original source: ComSec
Published on 9 December 2018