Staff writer
Namibia has thrown its support for the newly formed High-Level Ambition Coalition for marine biodiversity in maritime
areas beyond national jurisdiction (HABITAT), President Hage Geingob has said.
Geingob made these remarks during the first edition of the One Ocean Summit taking place in Brest, France.
The Coalition, according to Geingob, will contribute to strengthening the protection of marine ecosystems.
The One Ocean Summit aims to mobilise the international community to take tangible action towards preserving and supporting a healthy and sustainable ocean.
“The work of the Panel, based among others on a three-track approach: the political track, the action track and the knowledge track, with each track emphasising a commitment to manage 100% of the ocean area under national sustainably
jurisdiction through Sustainable Ocean Plans by 2025, provides us with the necessary impetus to reverse coastal erosion, loss of biodiversity and ocean degradation,” said Geingob.
He further said that Namibia is also developing Green Hydrogen to limit the impacts of climate change and its consequences on rising sea levels and global warming.
Geingob said that the calendar of events for the Oceans Panel for the forthcoming months is rigorous, with planned activities focusing on ocean resilience.
He said this would make the Panel a reference point in matters of global ocean governance.
“We cannot continue to talk about threats to our ocean abstractly or to offer one-dimensional solutions that could hinder the implementation of the recommendations from
climate change experts. The ocean gives us food. It gives us life and connects human beings in extraordinary ways. Therefore, its protection is not optional but vital for the survival of our global village.
“As such, through initiatives such as the One Ocean Summit, we should recommit to act now to protect the vital resource of our
ocean for our continued livelihoods,” said Geingob.
According to OceanCare, a wildlife protection NGO, in March, negotiators from across the globe will gather at the United Nations headquarters in New York for the fourth and final intergovernmental conference on a new international legally binding treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Treaty).
The group further said that the commitments taken at the summit were a step in the right direction but not ambitious enough.
“The HAC Declaration does not go far enough. As countries prepare and ultimately engage in negotiations in the context of the fourth IGC next month, we hope that countries will reach beyond the commitments and objectives laid out in the High Ambition Coalition Declaration. The world is already confronted with the impacts of climate change and the environmental emergency, and the protection of our ocean is critical in fending off the worst,” said the NGO.
