It is an honour to join you for today's important conversation on how to advance sustainable ocean-based economies, sustainable maritime transport and coastal community resilience - leaving no one behind.
For UNDP, a sustainable ocean economy is about how we build and sustain communities and livelihoods, leveraging the health of ocean ecosystems and related resources, as well as the economic systems on which they depend. How we align ocean use with ocean stewardship, to ensure a sustainable future for the more than 3 billion people who depend directly on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods.
The sustainable ocean economy is a human development imperative.
Drawing from our panelists' strong contributions, we recognize how ocean-based livelihoods are deeply woven into the fabric of our economies and our cultures - from small island developing states to expanding coastal cities, from traditional fisheries to marine biotechnology. From the wellbeing and resilience of coastal communities facing the impacts of climate change; to the equitable management of the high seas.
All of these livelihoods depend upon a multi-faceted ocean economy - not just about ocean-based industries but also about connecting the economic productivity of ocean sectors to the protection and restoration of marine and coastal ecosystems.
Guided by the shared value of the ocean to us all, we must ensure the integration of these different interests - strengthening ocean governance systems that evolve beyond silos and beyond single sector mandates.
At UNDP, we see integrated ocean governance as the bedrock of a truly sustainable ocean economy.
It is how we can join the dots between our use of ocean resources with our duty to future generations who will depend on our responsible stewardship. How we defend and advance ocean livelihoods present and future - and ensure that no one is left behind. Ocean livelihoods cannot be sustained by fragmented policy.
We need to ensure that ocean governance is integrated, inclusive and adaptive - providing coherence across fisheries, tourism, biodiversity, the demands imposed by climate change, the need for better science about our greatest resource, and the formidable financing gap that has dominated conversation here at UNOC3.
UNDP's Ocean Promise responds to these challenges and reaffirms our commitment to protecting and restoring ocean ecosystems and their governance.
We do so because these are the ecosystems on which billions of livelihoods depend, and the key to resilient, equitable and sustainable prosperity in the future. Protecting the ocean economy and transitioning towards genuine sustainability, calls for effective, integrated governance that bridges sectors and levels of government - from local, to regional, and right through to multilateral initiatives like the BBNJ.
This is not abstract theory, or wishful thinking. It is about practical transitions. From an extractive model to a regenerative one - and how we manage ocean resources in ways that are both equitable and sustainable. It's about valuing ocean resources and services in a manner that informs decision-making and reflects the true value of healthy marine resources.
At UNDP, we are uniquely mandated to engage across the ocean sector to support cohesive policy and integrated management approaches that address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. And we are wholeheartedly committed to supporting governments and our international partners as they build and strengthen this foundation, through institutional and legal reform; in assembling better data on our greatest shared resource; and in developing models of inclusive governance that deliver true partnership - for a sustainable ocean economy that puts the ocean at the heart of development and integrates nature, people and prosperity.
