HSA in the News

COP21 and Landmark Paris Agreement Boost Ocean Recognition

17 December, 2015

Despite being the largest biosphere on Earth and a central component of the climate system, the ocean has not featured in previous UNFCCC COP meetings and has been largely ignored within the process. In an effort to the bring the ocean and its significance into climate discussions – both as a climate regulator and the impacts felt from global warming — the High Seas Alliance helped to support a team of advocates and communicators at the Paris COP21.

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Our Ocean Conference

16 December, 2015

The Second Our Ocean Conference took place from 5-6 October 2015 in Valparaíso, Chile. The Conference was a follow up to the first Our Ocean conference initiated by the United State’s State Department in 2014.  The conference covered several thematic areas including marine protected areas (MPAs), ocean acidification, marine pollution, and sustainable fisheries.

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Overview on Illegal Fishing and the Port State Measures Agreement

16 December, 2015

Illegal fishing is a major threat to the sustainability of the world’s fisheries. Estimates show that illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing account for up to $23.5 billion annually, and up to 20 percent of all of the wild-caught marine fish caught globally. Illegal fishing not only undermines the essence of global ocean governance and the work of honest fishers, but it threatens the sustainability of marine resources and, subsequently, the livelihoods of coastal communities and countries that depend on them.

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Putting 2/3 of the Planet on the Climate Change Roadmap

2 December, 2015

All eyes are on Paris with the UNFCCC’s COP21 underway.  World leaders, the private sector and civil society have gathered together to seek a new, binding treaty to address climate change and the world waits to see if they can achieve the ambition with the resolve required.   After strong opening statements by the largest-ever gathering of world leaders in one place, on one day, to discuss one issue, there is real hope that substantial progress within the negotiations can be made.  Finally there is a collective sense of urgency around addressing the single biggest threat facing humankind.

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World Ocean Economist Summit: Blue economy, Blue Growth

26 June, 2015

The Economist World Ocean Summit 2015 was recently held in Cascais Portugal from June 3rd-5th. More than 350 government ministers, business leaders, environmentalists and representatives from multilateral organizations from across the globe convened to discuss how to make the transition from a conventional ocean economy to a new ‘blue’ economy.   The links between sound ocean governance and management to a blue economy featured in many of the keynote talks as well as a Coastal Governance Index prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit.  All stressed the importance of good governance, including public participation, transparency and accountability, along with sound policies to protect the environment to creating conditions for a sustainable “blue economy”.[1]

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Pacific Ocean Alliance Meeting, Suva, Fiji

26 June, 2015

The first Pacific Ocean Alliance meeting was held in Suva, Fiji from May 25-7, focused on marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). The Pacific Ocean Alliance) was launched at the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States in Samoa in September 2014, with its own charter, to bring about strengthened coordination and collaboration across and between stakeholders with an interest in how the Pacific ocean is conserved and managed. The Pacific Ocean Alliance is facilitated by the Pacific Ocean Commissioner, and was called for by Pacific Ocean Prime Ministers and Presidents under the Framework for a Pacific Oceanscape  Following the a workshop of the a Pacific Ocean Alliance Technical Working Group on the 28th discussed options for policies on marine genetic resources, area based management, impact assessments, oceans governance, capacity building and technology transfer. Pacific Oceans Commissioner Dame Meg Ryan opened the meeting, and wrote an article entitled “High Hopes for the High Seas”, describing the aspirations for the Pacific.

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Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter: Strengthen Governance for the Global Commons

18 June, 2015

Earlier today, His Holiness Pope Francis delivered the much-anticipated Encyclical Letter, “On Care for Our Common Home” addressing the need for collective action in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. Within this prophetic appeal, he addresses many issues contributing to the global environmental crisis and specifically highlights the current exploitation of ocean and marine ecosystems. This includes the impact of ocean acidification, made-made pollution, vanishing marine biodiversity and uncontrolled fisheries. The Encyclical also lauds the importance of environmental impact assessments as “part of the process from the beginning”, transparency in decision-making, intra-generational equity, and the precautionary principle.

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One Step Closer to Conserving High Seas Biodiversity

30 January, 2015

Source: PEW Charitable Trusts

U.N. will begin negotiating new treaty to protect marine life beyond national jurisdiction.

It took a decade of deliberation, many hours of talks, and one late night huddled in a basement meeting room at the United Nations in New York, but in the early morning of Jan. 24, members of a working group set up to make recommendations to the U.N. General Assembly reached a consensus. They agreed to begin negotiating the first treaty that specifically addresses protection of marine life in an area that covers nearly half of the planet—those ocean waters beyond national jurisdiction.

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