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FINANCE ET ÉCONOMIE BLEUES
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WORKING TOWARDS OCEAN
DEMOCRACY
Many options were mentioned. One of these was
a legal status for the ocean(supported by France),
which was raised and contrasted with specific pro-
blems, such as deep sea mining. The legal recogni-
tion of nature’s rights, like in Ecuador or New Zealand,
was mentioned as a new stage of innovative ocean
management. Greater consistency between States,
as well as between knowledge and actions, emerged
as a major milestone in the developing “ocean de-
mocracy”, the emerging voice of the people and the
oceans which should be considered in future interna-
tional negotiations.
“When we have a set of objective data
which describes the ocean, we can
reach an agreement on shared ideas
and bringing about major change.
We must also consider the ocean’s
spiritual value. We should establish a
new set of morals in our relationship
with the ocean.”
Vladimir Ryabinin,
Executive Secretary
of the Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission
of UNESCO and Assistant
Director General of UNESCO
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