UNEP: Ocean protection needs regional action

**DAR ES SALAAM: **THE United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has stressed the importance of regional cooperation among Western Indian Ocean countries, saying the shared nature of the ocean makes joint action essential in tackling climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

UNEP Deputy Executive Director, Ms Elizabeth Mrema, made the remarks yesterday while addressing the 12th Conference of the Parties (COP12) to the Nairobi Convention, which is marking 40 years of regional cooperation in managing and protecting the Western Indian Ocean.

The four-day meeting has brought together representatives from 10 contracting parties and various stakeholders to address challenges affecting the Western Indian Ocean and advance the sustainable use of marine and coastal resources.

The conference is being held under the theme: “Towards a Sustainable Blue Economy in the Western Indian Ocean for People and Nature: A 40-Year Journey.” Ms Mrema said no single country could address the interconnected threats facing marine and coastal ecosystems in isolation because oceans transcend national boundaries. “The ocean knows no political boundaries and therefore safeguarding marine and coastal ecosystems of the Western Indian Ocean requires a unified regional effort,” she said.

Ms Mrema said the region was meeting at a defining moment for the planet, with climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution increasingly putting pressure on marine ecosystems and coastal communities. She said rising sea temperatures, sea levels and ocean acidification, coupled with increasingly severe extreme weather events, were threatening coastal communities and fragile marine habitats.

Ms Mrema also cited the degradation of coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass meadows, which she said serve as natural shields for coastal communities and important carbon sinks. She said pollution, particularly from land-based sources, plastic waste and nutrient runoff, was further damaging marine food webs and threatening human health.

“Unfortunately, no single nation can address these interconnected crises in isolation. Ocean health is planetary health and protecting it requires structured, cohesive and collaborative actions,” she said.

Ms Mrema said the Nairobi Convention had demonstrated the value of regional cooperation by providing a platform for countries to develop common approaches to marine and coastal environmental challenges. She cited the convention’s work on integrated coastal and ocean governance, landbased sources of pollution, marine protected areas and coastal water-quality monitoring as examples of how regional frameworks could translate into national action.

She said the regional action plan on marine litter had informed national marine litter action plans in five countries, while the strategic framework for coastal water-quality monitoring had supported improvements in national monitoring across eight countries in the Western Indian Ocean.

Ms Mrema said the convention had also strengthened transboundary collaboration through joint management of shared marine ecosystems and common approaches to pollution and protected areas. She called for regional cooperation to be translated into concrete action that delivers benefits to people and nature.

“As we look towards the next decade and beyond, the decisions which will be taken here at this 12th Conference of the Parties need to match the scale of the challenges before us,” she said.

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Ms Mrema also urged countries to deepen partnerships by involving youth, civil society, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities in efforts to protect marine ecosystems. She further called for innovative financing mechanisms to secure long-term investment in marine ecosystems across the Western Indian Ocean region.

Ms Mrema said the region needed to scale up ocean financing through mechanisms such as blue finance, natural capital accounting and dedicated trust funds to ensure sustainable investment in marine ecosystems.

“We must be able to scale up innovative ocean financing including blue, natural capital accounting and trust funds to ensure that sustainable investment in our marine ecosystems is guaranteed,” she said.

Ms Mrema said the financing push was necessary as countries confronted interconnected challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, which were increasingly threatening marine and coastal ecosystems.

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