President Ramkalawan becomes patron of Ocean Decade Alliance   |19 February 2022

President Wavel Ramkalawan is one of two patrons of the Ocean Decade Alliance to generate worldwide support of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (‘Ocean Decade’).

He accepted the invitation from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) to become one of the patrons of the Ocean Decade Alliance and the other is the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre.

The announcements made during the One Ocean Summit (February 9-11, 2022, in Brest, France) add weight to the group of eminent individuals already engaged in the Ocean Decade Alliance.

Through its members, the alliance’s mandate is to catalyse support for the Ocean Decade through targeted resource mobilisation, networking and influence, leveraging and multiplying financial and in-kind resource commitments.

Focusing on action and jointly developed solutions, the Ocean Decade Alliance will support all forms of ocean science to successfully deliver the Decade’s vision and thus contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In 2018, Seychelles became the first country to successfully undertake a debt-for-nature swap for ocean conservation: a portion of its foreign debt forgiven in exchange for investment in science-based environmental conservation and sustainability projects.

Seychelles has now taken another step to reaffirming and renewing its contribution to ocean science and leadership in this domain among small island developing states (Sids). Both Seychelles and its head of state, President Wavel Ramkalawan, have joined the Decade Alliance, as institutional member and patron, respectively.

Ocean sustainability is at the core of the Seychelles’ development agenda, and features prominently in the country’s diplomatic outreach, making them a key actor to mobilise Indian Ocean countries and Sids more generally into supporting and contributing to the Ocean Decade.

 “We believe that ocean science diplomacy has a crucial role in facilitating the science needed to support ocean governance and management at all levels,” stated President Ramkalawan in his acceptance letter as Alliance member and patron.

“Unesco, especially through the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, has provided capable and sustained leadership in this and other related areas. Seychelles will continue to provide [the IOC, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-Unesco)] with the support that is required in the pursuit of our common endeavour and in the implementation of the objectives of the Ocean Decade,” added President Ramkalawan.

The Ocean Decade Alliance, whose members will have the opportunity to shape the strategic implementation of the Decade, will feature prominently at several upcoming global events, including the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, in June 2022.

A member of the Alliance since 2021, the Kingdom of Norway has been a strong supporter of the Ocean Decade since its planning phase, contributing financially to help Unesco’s global coordination efforts via its Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-Unesco).

“Ocean-based industries play a crucial role in the Norwegian economy, and Norway attaches great importance to ensuring the sustainable management and use of marine resources,” said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

“As co-chair of the high-level panel for a sustainable ocean economy, l am pleased to see the close alignment between the implementation of the UN Decade and the action agenda of the Ocean Panel. l therefore welcome and support the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. I will do my best to help realise [its] ambitions,” added PM Støre.

The high level panel’s flagship reports ocean solutions that benefit people, nature and the economy called on governments and stakeholder to “capitalise on the UN Decade of Ocean Science for sustainable development to create a global data network that provides broad and automated access to ocean data.” The panel has likewise promoted the Ocean Decade as an opportunity to strengthen the science-policy interface, ensuring public policy and management are informed by solid science.

Compiled by Gerard Govinden