FAO Director-General QU Dongyu on Tuesday addressed the global launch of the Clean and Healthy Ocean Integrated Program (CHOIP), a Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded initiative that aims to tackle nutrient pollution entering coastal waters from agriculture, urban wastewater and industry.
The program, which mobilizes more than $110 million in GEF financing and $821 million in co-financing, contributes to sustainable blue economies while generating ecological, social and economic benefits across 13 countries and 11 Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs).
Co-led by FAO, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and implemented in partnership with Conservation International (CI), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank, the program is expected to deliver significant environmental and social benefits.
It aims to restore more than 93 000 ha of ecosystems; place over 1.3 million ha of landscapes and 10.5 million ha of marine habitat under improved practices; improve management across more than 311 000 ha of terrestrial protected areas and 414 000 ha of marine protected areas; mitigate approximately 9.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; and directly benefit nearly 526 000 people, while strengthening regional and global cooperation on ocean health.
Speaking at a high-level event at FAO headquarters in Rome, Qu said that oceans connect us all and that ensuring they remain healthy and clean is a shared responsibility.
"We need an integrated approach to address ocean pollution," the Director-General said, "which is directly affecting aquatic life, which is the biodiversity of aquatic foods."
"Pollution often begins far inland and with consequences that reach far beyond ecosystems - affecting fishers, farmers and coastal communities, and threatening food security, livelihoods and nutrition," he said.
"We need to act from source to sea," Qu added.
Excess nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, can enter rivers and coastal waters through agricultural runoff, wastewater and industrial discharges. They can trigger excessive algal growth and reduce oxygen levels in the water, creating conditions that threaten marine life, fisheries and coastal livelihoods.
According to the Director-General, the programme's success will depend on effective collaboration with local governments and community leaders to deliver locally led solutions, and effective scaling up of solutions that work.
GEF Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson Diego Mesa Puyo said: "Our oceans are under growing pressure from pollution that often begins far inland - on farms, in cities, and industrial sites.
"The consequences reach well beyond the marine environment. They affect food security, public health and livelihoods, and put at risk healthy ocean ecosystems that support an estimated $2.5 trillion in economic activity each year. This is the challenge the Clean and Healthy Ocean Integrated Program was designed to address," the GEF CEO said.
The event also featured remarks from Ambassador Peter Thomson, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean. Four of the thirteen participating countries including Madagascar, Mexico, Thailand and Trinidad and Tobago, spoke at the opening segment
CHOIP in action
The CHOIP provides practical, science-based solutions tailored to local contexts. In Madagascar, it will help communities adopt sustainable agricultural practices and restore ecosystems to reduce pollution reaching coastal areas. In Viet Nam, it will support farmers and local partners in the Red River Delta in improving fertilizer management and testing solutions to reduce pollution flowing through agricultural canals into the sea. In Peru, scientists and farmers in Paracas Bay will test seaweed cultivation alongside scallops to absorb excess nutrients while exploring ways to sustain aquaculture without increasing pollution or oxygen depletion.
The integrated program's success relies on partnerships with regional multilateral development banks (ADB, CAF, EBRD), which provide the financing and implementation capacity needed to translate priorities into investments. FAO contributes technical expertise in agrifood systems, water and natural resources management, science, and country-level cooperation.
The program also takes a people-centered approach, recognizing women, youth and local communities as essential partners in designing and delivering solutions.
