Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Berlin

The four-day World Ocean Conference (WOC) wound up in this capital of Indonesia's North Sulawesi province on Thursday with the adoption of the Manado Ocean Declaration (MOD).
In their 21-point declaration, participants of the conference stated among others that they will strive to achieve long-term conservation, management and sustainable use of marine living resources and coastal habitats through appropriate application of precautionary and ecosystem approaches.

They will also strive to implement long-term strategies in meeting internationally agreed sustainable development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration related to the marine environment. In doing so, they will strengthen global partnership for development.

They stressed the need for national strategies for sustainable management of coastal and marine ecosystems as protective and productive buffer zones that deliver valuable ecosystem goods and services that have significant potential to address the adverse effects of climate change.

They agreed to implement integrated coastal and ocean management, including marine and coastal land use planning to minimize and reduce the risk and vulnerability of coastal communities and critical infrastructure.

In order to enhance the health and resilience of coastal and marine ecosystems, they will strive to reduce pollution of ocean, coastal and land areas and promote sustainable management according to relevant international agreements and codes of conduct.

They also agreed to promote gathering and exchange of information on the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems, communities, fisheries and other industries; emergency preparedness, monitoring and forecasting climate change and ocean variability; and improving public awareness of early warning system capacity.

They emphasized the need to develop, consistent with international commitments, comprehensive adaptation measures including within national sustainable development strategies to address climate-related impacts on oceans and coasts and develop environmentally sound policies for integrated coastal and ocean management based on reliable scientific assessments and internationally agreed goals, particularly for the most vulnerable communities that fully depend on marine resources for their livelihood.

For the purpose of increasing coral atolls and coastal communities resilience and preparation for the impacts of climate change on oceans, the WOC participants are determined to promote the development of national adaptation measures including the effective use of all relevant information, climate-impact projection scenarios, early warning systems and disaster risk reduction and risk management.

They stressed the need for financial resources and incentives to further assist developing countries' efforts in promoting diversified, environmentally sustainable livelihood options for coastal communities most vulnerable to climate change.

Noting the relevant provisions in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), they also stressed the need to promote affordable, environmentally sound, and renewable ocean technologies and know-how, particularly in developing countries.

The WOC participants invited Parties to the UNFCCC to consider developing and submitting climate change adaptation project proposals for coastal and ocean management to the Adaptation Fund Board for consideration.

They agreed to the efforts of the UN secretary general to facilitate cooperation and coordination in the UN system to address climate change and emphasize the importance of ensuring that ocean-related activities continue to be reflected in this process.

They reiterated the importance of achieving an effective outcome at the COP-15 of the UNFCCC in Copenhagen later this year and invited parties to consider how the coastal and ocean dimension could be appropriately reflected in their decision.

Prof Dr Emil Salim, a former Indonesian environmental affairs minister said on the sidelines of the WOC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) here early this week the MOD would be an international political agreement to always include the sea in international conventions on climate change.

Emil further said that after a political commitment was made, emphasis had then to be placed on saving the sea through cooperation in the coral reef triangle.
Until now there had been three international conventions related to global warming but focusing on land, soil and earth issues and did not specifically touched sea issues.

He said discussions on sea issues were lagging behind, and therefore not many people were aware that the sea absorbed carbon, was a source of food and a potential source of energy.

Source : Antara