Algeria
1
Please check against delivery
The high-level United Nations Conference to Support the
Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and
sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for
sustainable development
Plenary Meeting
General Assembly Hall, 8th June 2017
Algeria الجزائر
بعثة الجزائر الدائمة
لدى الأمم المتحدة
نيويورك
Permanent Mission of Algeria
to the United Nations
New York
2
Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Algeria aligns itself with the statement delivered by Ecuador on behalf of the G77
and China.
I would like to express our gratitude to Fiji and Sweden for co-hosting this
Conference. Our appreciation goes also to the President of the General Assembly,
Peter Thomson, for his dedication and outstanding support to this conference, as
well as to all that made this gathering possible.
It is a great pleasure to see here gathered friends of the Seas and Oceans, with
different backgrounds, from all over the world, trying to reverse the decline in the
health of our ocean, motor of life and mirror of our excesses and abuses.
Algeria is a maritime country located in the northern part of Africa, coastal to the
Mediterranean Sea, cradle of many civilizations. The Mediterranean or mare
nostrum has, in fact, always been a bridge linking shores of Africa, Asia and
Europe.
Algeria has more than 1600 km of coastline, with a very rich marine biodiversity;
some habitats play a very important role in the regional ecosystem.
This ecosystem is endangered by marine pollution, ocean acidification, overfishing.
It also endangered by marine invasive species, like the taxifolia caulerpa
algae that attack posidonia oceanic seagrass, an endemic plant that constitute a
major ecosystem in the Mediterranean and plays an important role against erosion.
Mindful of the vulnerability of its maritime space, located in a semi-enclosed sea,
Algeria has put in place development programs with a national strategy for the
environment by 2035, based on a participatory approach that embraces the
principles of "blue growth" and ecosystem principle.
This strategy takes into account current and future challenges of Algeria and
integrates 14 of the 17 SDGs into an innovative and structuring approach. It is
based on systematic management of ecosystems, in order to preserve their
functionality and rational use of resources.
I’m pleased to inform that Algeria signed last month the Malta MedFish4Ever
Declaration. This document establishes a set of clear objectives for the
Mediterranean, promoting development of sustainable small-scale fisheries, better
practices on data collection and scientific evaluation of key stocks, an ecosystem
based approach and measures to fight Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing.
3
Algeria cooperates closely with the General Fisheries Commission for the
Mediterranean (or GFCM), as well as with the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and participates regularly in their
work.
Algeria is fully engaged to achieve targets of the GFCM mid-term strategy for
2017-2020 towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and black sea fisheries.
As an African Union member state, Algeria is committed to implement the African
Integrated Maritime Strategy for the period up to year 2050. This strategy provides
a broad framework for the protection and sustainable exploitation of the African
Maritime Domain for wealth creation.
As for the Final Draft Call for Action, to be adopted tomorrow, Algeria engaged
very actively on behalf of the African Group during the three rounds of
consultations. Our gratitude goes to the Permanent Representatives of Singapore
and Portugal for their successful co-facilitation of this political declaration
The Final Draft Call for Action highlights specific challenges of Coastal African
States. These countries have special needs due to vulnerable communities living in
their coastal zones. This situation is likely to be exacerbated because of climate
change impacts, such as flooding of river deltas or an increased migration toward
coastal towns due to drought and desertification.
It is necessary to stress the importance of cooperative actions and international
solidarity, in particular those aimed at building capacities of developing countries.
I would like to express our happiness to see the level of 1000 voluntary
commitments reached, to which Algeria contributed with 8 commitments related to
different targets of SDG14.
Among the voluntary commitments made by Algeria, my country committed to
introduce learning sequences to foster ocean-related education in the three stages
of our national education system. Algeria also committed to update its National
Action Plan to Combat Marine Pollution from Land-based Activities, which will
constitute a tool for governance, prevention and control of marine pollution.
It is the wish of Algeria to see, next month, a successful conclusion of the work of
the Preparatory Committee on the development of an international legally binding
instrument under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine
biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. This future instrument is more
than needed in order to achieve SDG14 targets.
4
I must say that global efforts for transforming our world by 2030 shall be
intensified.
We have heard many times this week the ethical imperative of the 2030 Agenda,
namely “no-one left behind”. To make this slogan effective, peoples of territories
under colonization or foreign occupation shall be with us on board. We have to
take our responsibility and not simply close our eyes in front of these peoples, and
like us, they have hopes and dreams for a better world. Flag States, port States and
coastal States have to take action and cooperate to preserve marine resources of
these peoples
It is not a detail to recall the adoption, in June 2014, of the FAO Guidelines for
Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the context of Food Security and
Poverty Eradication. These guidelines call FAO Parties to protect human right and
dignity of small-scale fisheries stakeholders in situation of occupation.
I thank you.
Please check against delivery
The high-level United Nations Conference to Support the
Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and
sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for
sustainable development
Plenary Meeting
General Assembly Hall, 8th June 2017
Algeria الجزائر
بعثة الجزائر الدائمة
لدى الأمم المتحدة
نيويورك
Permanent Mission of Algeria
to the United Nations
New York
2
Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Algeria aligns itself with the statement delivered by Ecuador on behalf of the G77
and China.
I would like to express our gratitude to Fiji and Sweden for co-hosting this
Conference. Our appreciation goes also to the President of the General Assembly,
Peter Thomson, for his dedication and outstanding support to this conference, as
well as to all that made this gathering possible.
It is a great pleasure to see here gathered friends of the Seas and Oceans, with
different backgrounds, from all over the world, trying to reverse the decline in the
health of our ocean, motor of life and mirror of our excesses and abuses.
Algeria is a maritime country located in the northern part of Africa, coastal to the
Mediterranean Sea, cradle of many civilizations. The Mediterranean or mare
nostrum has, in fact, always been a bridge linking shores of Africa, Asia and
Europe.
Algeria has more than 1600 km of coastline, with a very rich marine biodiversity;
some habitats play a very important role in the regional ecosystem.
This ecosystem is endangered by marine pollution, ocean acidification, overfishing.
It also endangered by marine invasive species, like the taxifolia caulerpa
algae that attack posidonia oceanic seagrass, an endemic plant that constitute a
major ecosystem in the Mediterranean and plays an important role against erosion.
Mindful of the vulnerability of its maritime space, located in a semi-enclosed sea,
Algeria has put in place development programs with a national strategy for the
environment by 2035, based on a participatory approach that embraces the
principles of "blue growth" and ecosystem principle.
This strategy takes into account current and future challenges of Algeria and
integrates 14 of the 17 SDGs into an innovative and structuring approach. It is
based on systematic management of ecosystems, in order to preserve their
functionality and rational use of resources.
I’m pleased to inform that Algeria signed last month the Malta MedFish4Ever
Declaration. This document establishes a set of clear objectives for the
Mediterranean, promoting development of sustainable small-scale fisheries, better
practices on data collection and scientific evaluation of key stocks, an ecosystem
based approach and measures to fight Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing.
3
Algeria cooperates closely with the General Fisheries Commission for the
Mediterranean (or GFCM), as well as with the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and participates regularly in their
work.
Algeria is fully engaged to achieve targets of the GFCM mid-term strategy for
2017-2020 towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and black sea fisheries.
As an African Union member state, Algeria is committed to implement the African
Integrated Maritime Strategy for the period up to year 2050. This strategy provides
a broad framework for the protection and sustainable exploitation of the African
Maritime Domain for wealth creation.
As for the Final Draft Call for Action, to be adopted tomorrow, Algeria engaged
very actively on behalf of the African Group during the three rounds of
consultations. Our gratitude goes to the Permanent Representatives of Singapore
and Portugal for their successful co-facilitation of this political declaration
The Final Draft Call for Action highlights specific challenges of Coastal African
States. These countries have special needs due to vulnerable communities living in
their coastal zones. This situation is likely to be exacerbated because of climate
change impacts, such as flooding of river deltas or an increased migration toward
coastal towns due to drought and desertification.
It is necessary to stress the importance of cooperative actions and international
solidarity, in particular those aimed at building capacities of developing countries.
I would like to express our happiness to see the level of 1000 voluntary
commitments reached, to which Algeria contributed with 8 commitments related to
different targets of SDG14.
Among the voluntary commitments made by Algeria, my country committed to
introduce learning sequences to foster ocean-related education in the three stages
of our national education system. Algeria also committed to update its National
Action Plan to Combat Marine Pollution from Land-based Activities, which will
constitute a tool for governance, prevention and control of marine pollution.
It is the wish of Algeria to see, next month, a successful conclusion of the work of
the Preparatory Committee on the development of an international legally binding
instrument under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine
biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. This future instrument is more
than needed in order to achieve SDG14 targets.
4
I must say that global efforts for transforming our world by 2030 shall be
intensified.
We have heard many times this week the ethical imperative of the 2030 Agenda,
namely “no-one left behind”. To make this slogan effective, peoples of territories
under colonization or foreign occupation shall be with us on board. We have to
take our responsibility and not simply close our eyes in front of these peoples, and
like us, they have hopes and dreams for a better world. Flag States, port States and
coastal States have to take action and cooperate to preserve marine resources of
these peoples
It is not a detail to recall the adoption, in June 2014, of the FAO Guidelines for
Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the context of Food Security and
Poverty Eradication. These guidelines call FAO Parties to protect human right and
dignity of small-scale fisheries stakeholders in situation of occupation.
I thank you.
Stakeholders