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STRENGTHENING OCEAN GOVERNANCE | 13

The panellists also called for an end to perverse SESSION 2.
incentives and particularly harmful fisheries subsidies. THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE
Mahlet Naomi Mesfin, Deputy Assistant Secretary SECTOR IN THE SHIFT
for Oceans, Fisheries, and Polar Affairs at the TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE AND
US Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and
International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, REGENERATIVE BLUE ECONOMY
stressed the importance of eliminating harmful “Economic stakeholders are part of the solution,” said
fisheries subsidies. “Billions of dollars in annual Bud Darr, Executive Vice President, Maritime Policy
government subsidies are creating perverse economic and Government Affairs, Mediterranean Shipping
incentives and are a major driver of illegal, unreported Company (MSC) Group (Switzerland). This set the tone
and unregulated (IUU) fishing and overfishing,” she for the second panel discussion, which highlighted the
said, noting that 90% of the world’s fish stocks are growing recognition of marine ecosystem conservation
fished at or beyond their sustainable limits, with 20% objectives by private sector ocean stakeholders.
of catches coming from IUU fishing. Mesfin added The industry can no longer ignore the scale, scope
that the United States was one of the first countries and cost of the threats to ocean health and climate
to accept the WTO Agreement – comprising various stability. The panellists from shipping, offshore energy,
multilateral trade agreements and related legally- fisheries, aquaculture and blue finance shared their
binding instruments – and supports new restrictions views and examples of their efforts to promote a blue
on subsidies that contribute to overfishing. economy that regenerates marine ecosystems and is
more respectful of the communities that rely on them.
Among the main recommendations they made
was encouraging companies to take voluntary

“The European Union aims to move from
2% to 25% renewable energy from the sea.
That means quite a congested maritime
space, which is why we need maritime
spatial planning. We can use a digital twin
to facilitate this mission, which
will have the world’s largest
investment programme in the
sector. Significant progress
has been made by Member
States, with new concepts
such as ‘Mariparks’ creating
multi-use areas from the
planning and design phase.”
Charlina Vitcheva, European
Commission’s Directorate-General for
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
measures, including in the absence of regulatory
obligations. Central to discussions were championing
inclusiveness and a new approach to investment.
Anne-Laurence Roucher, Deputy CEO of Mirova,
called in particular for “changing investors’ mindsets
by adding impact as a third pillar of the traditional risk
and return investment model”.