Pacific Statement RIO+20 Prepcom - delivered 7 March 2011.doc
Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development
Second Session
7-8 March 2011
Statement by the Pacific States
Delivered by HE Mr Stuart Beck
Permanent Representative, Ambassador
Republic of Palau
I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of the following Pacific
countries: Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the
Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Fiji, the Kingdom of Tonga, Nauru,
Australia, Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and
Vanuatu.
For Rio +20 to be a success for the Pacific region, it must deliver a strong
outcome on one of our most important resources – the ocean.
The ocean is critical to our economies, our food security and our cultures.
The major sustainable development World Summits have recognised the
marine environment as “an essential component of the global-life support
systems and a positive asset that presents opportunities for sustainable
development”.
For many Pacific States, the health of the oceans and the management of
their resources - particularly fisheries - are directly related to development
opportunities for their people.
We know the necessity of a “green economy” when it comes to the oceans.
We have recognised that there are limits to what the ocean can provide and
the importance of managing resources to ensure the benefits can be shared
by current and future generations. As has been noted by the Solomon
Islands Environment Minister at UNEP recently, for the Pacific the "green
economy" is indeed a "blue economy".
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The obstacles to the conservation and sustainable management of our
marine living resources are well known. For the Pacific, illegal, unreported
and unregulated fishing continues to pose a major threat. It reduces
revenues and threa tens fisheries’ sustainability. There are also challenges in
implementing monitoring, control and surveillance of large coastlines and
areas of maritime jurisdiction. We are also working as a region to address
deficits in human resources, technical capacity and assets. Climate change
threatens sea-level rise and ocean acidification. It also exacerbates existing
problems related to water supply and food security which may be doubly
threatened by over fishing and stress on coral reef ecosystems.
Possible solutions to these issues are also known. Numerous reports by the
UN have been drafted on how to manage sustainable fisheries. Yet stocks
continue to be overfished. And we are still some way from achieving the
legitimate development aspirations of Small Island Developing States as
contained in the Mauritius Strategy.
What is needed in the case of a depleted resource is action. We need high
level political will to implement what has already been agreed.
The Pacific States will be looking to Rio+20 to garner the crucial political
will and leadership needed to implement what has already been committed
to paper. We also look forward to sharing some of our leadership and best
practice from the region on steps taken to “green” our oceans policy.
