Rallying funds to sustainably develop ocean economies |23 February 2018

Delegates from several African countries especially those bordering the oceans, including Seychelles, development partners, private investors, scientists, civil society, international organisations are meeting here in a two-day conference to explore innovative ways to increase funds to support sustainable development  initiatives in the Blue economy sector.

Seychelles is co-hosting the conference with the World Bank (WB).

President Danny Faure, several ministers, members of the National Assembly, members of the diplomatic corps were among the guests who attended the opening session of the conference yesterday morning at the Savoy Resort.

Seychelles’ Vice-President Vincent Meriton and the Vice-President for Sustainable Development at the WB Laura Tuck officially launched the conference with their opening remarks.

VP Meriton said it is an honour for Seychelles to be co-hosting this conference with the World Bank.

“We have been partners for many years and the World Bank support has and continues to be invaluable. Over the last two years, we have worked closely with the WB and the Global Environment Facility in preparing the Third South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth Project (SWIOFish3), which combines over US $20 million of support with the issuance by Seychelles of a sovereign Blue Bond valued at €15 million,” VP Meriton told the audience.

He added that this blended finance is aimed at securing a successful transition to sustainable fisheries, a key component of the Blue Economy.

“Once the issuance of the Blue Bond is concluded, we hope it will provide a model for other developing states interested in exploring new ways of financing sustainable development,” he stressed.

VP Meriton said the conference is evidence that the global conversation on Blue economy is maturing.

He reaffirmed that Seychelles, alongside other small island developing states, has been at the forefront of the Blue economy, ocean and climate conversations in international fora since the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development in 2012.

“We have continued to push the agenda of sustainable development of ‘life under water’, with President Faure committing Seychelles to developing our first comprehensive maritime security policy at the Our Oceans conference in Malta last October,” he went on to add.

He reminded all present that the African Union has also firmly placed the Blue economy on the development agenda.

“It is time to put those commitments into practice. We shall lead by example when from April 23 to 25 we shall host the first ever African Ship-owners Summit in collaboration between our Seychelles Petroleum Company (Seypec), the African Ship-owners Association (ASA) and the African Union (AU).

The aim is to seek ways to develop greater African shipping ownership of the trade with Africa,” VP Meriton said.

VP Meriton said Seychelles is proud to share over the two days its approach and achievements in the Blue economy and our Blue economy strategic policy and roadmap which was endorsed last month by the cabinet of ministers.

VP Meriton explained that the roadmap is setting our priorities for action and investment to 2030, in line with our Seychelles National Development Strategy (2035).

He thanked the Commonwealth Secretariat for supporting our Blue economy agenda and more specifically for a technical expert in the last two years who has helped us reach where we are today.

“My message is that Seychelles has demonstrated leadership, but like many island developing countries, we could not have achieved such results alone. Partnership is key. Partnerships with countries in our region, such as the Joint Management Area of the extended continental shelf with Mauritius which, incidentally, we shall launch another chapter here in November. Partnerships for research, maritime security, renewable energy and more. We have active and dynamic bilateral and multilateral partnerships. Indeed, partnerships is key. No country can do it alone,” VP Meriton stressed.

For her part VP Tuck said the conference has come at an opportune time when the global community has started to take seriously concerns about the health of our oceans and to think collectively as to how to address them.

“We need to give a boost both to public and private efforts because it is only if we combine them that we can get healthier, more productive and more sustainable oceans,” she stressed.

With regard to the Blue economy, Ms Tuck said the vision of the WB is in a framework of the Blue economy to better support economic growth, social inclusion, the preservation and improvement of livelihoods at the same time that we ensure and improve the environmental sustainability of the oceans and the seas.

“We firmly believe that the Blue economy approach is the only way to both provide social and economic benefits for current and future generations and protect the oceans. We are happy that more and more governments and institutions are subscribing to this approach,” Ms Tuck pointed out.

Echoeing VP Meriton’s concerns that our oceans are under threats from many fronts, Ms Tuck highlighted and focused on the three main threats which are  overfishing, marine pollution and climate change. She was eager to share some of the lessons learnt and point out the role the private sector can play in finding some more innovative solutions that are needed to help address these challenges.

With regard to the threat of overfishing, Ms Tuck highlighted the fact that fish stocks the world over are being depleted at a rapid rate.

“Some 90% of fish stocks are fully fished, overfished, depleted or are just recovering,” she pointed out.

She went on to stress that an analysis the WB conducted on the issue for one of its reports shows that more than US $80 billion of economic benefits are foregone every year due to overfishing.

She added that this is a global problem which is hard to address but affirmed that there have been some successes in tackling it locally citing an example in Peru where the WB worked with the government to provide funding to address overfishing more specifically by supporting broad effort to reduce over capacity in the fishing fleet with successful results and in the Solomon Islands where it worked with the private sector to protect the fisheries sector.

As for marine pollution Ms Tuck focused on plastic in the ocean which she said is an issue which has raised global alarm.

Plastics are polluting our seas at a rate of more than 10 million tonnes per year with east Asia being the world’s fastest growing region for plastic waste, adding that the forecast is there would be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050 if things continue as it is.

She pointed out that about 80% of ocean plastic pollution results from a lack of land-based solid waste management not just from coastal cities but also from disposal along 10 big rivers. But she noted that a large part of plastic problems are solvable without breakthrough technologies and this through intensive collection and recycling of trash in those countries bordering those rivers.

She said to that effect the government of Indonesia for instance is working with the WB to support a US $1.2 billion sector development programme, a solid waste management programme over the next six years. 

Regarding climate change impacts, Ms Tuck said in West Africa governments of the region are working with the WB to support the West Africa Coastal Areas Management Programme targeting 17 countries along the coast in projects that include building their defences and increasing their natural infrastructure. 

“Therefore having government working with the private sector both to diagnose the problems and to design a solution is a fundamental part of the approach,” Ms Tuck affirmed.

She said it is clear from all these examples that the funding from individual governments and development banks can never be enough to address the magnitude of the challenge our oceans are facing today so complementary investments from public and private funds can be of good returns if the conditions are right.

Later yesterday afternoon Ms Tuck and her delegation led by the Minister for Finance, Trade & Economic Planning Dr Peter Larose and other key officials from his ministry called on President Danny Faure at State House.

Speaking to the press afterwards she said the WB is very pleased with Seychelles leadership in the Blue economy and it was an opportunity to commend  Seychelles’ leadership on its initiatives in the Blue economy.

“Seychelles has done a lot and is a real leader in this area and we discussed further initiatives including private sector investments, a new partnership framework that will soon be presented to the WB board, other areas where we could provide support in the future,” said Ms Tuck.

She described the partnership between the WB and Seychelles as extremely productive and said they are very pleased with the progress Seychelles is making.