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30 | SOLUTIONS FOR THE OCEAN / THE BLUE ECONOMY

MONACO BLUE INITIATIVE
A bold vision for ocean

conservation

The need to drive a bold vision for ocean conserva- BREAKING WITH THE PYRAMID
tion was based on the input of speakers from the first SYSTEM
session who suggested various ways to sharpen am-
bitions in order to address growing ocean challenges. Discussions then focused on the plan to build in
“A bold vision should begin with a great idea and a small island states, the first affected by ocean dis-
calendar”, suggested Minna Epps, IUCN global ma- turbances. “Conservation should take into account
rine and polar programme director, noting that only the local socio-economic fabric”, cautioned Tommy
ten years separated the announcement of the first Melo, co-founder of Biosfera, an NGO set up in Cape
man on the moon by John F. Kennedy and the mo- Verde promoting the involvement of coastal commu-
ment when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon’s nities in marine protected areas.
surface. “Achieving complete and effective protection
of 30% of the ocean by 2030 needs to become our The issue of distributing funds allocated to ocean
bold vision”, continued the speaker. Representatives protection was discussed between the panellists.
of the United Nations, governments and civil society Since top-down measures are often poorly suited to
from Europe and Africa in turn reasserted the impor- the local realities, funding on a smaller scale could be
tance of taking action for this target to fully protect deployed directly to local civil society organisations in
one third of the ocean, whilst advocating the sustai- order to overcome the administrative burden of major
nable management of the entire ocean space. financial instruments. Intermediary structures act as
vital links in the budgetary breakdown.

NEW JURISDICTIONS
“It is time to agree finally on specific protection
The panel members called for a high-seas treaty to for the Antarctic, our planet’s thermostat and
be finalised rapidly, in order to legislate areas located a land of peace, research and cooperation.
beyond national jurisdiction. In addition, they recom- A great deal of effort was necessary to
mended that precautionary and polluter-pays prin- determine the reasons and limitations
ciples be adopted. The implementation of a global for protecting these seas, and there is a
ocean tax was examined, as well as a proposal for large consensus to define three additional
a legally binding international agreement on plastic maritime areas which deserve to be
pollution by the end of 2024. These ocean planning protected.”
assumptions are aimed at ensuring the sustainable Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, Spain’s Minister
use of an increasingly busy ocean space. for the Ecological Transition