Oceans, seas and marine resources

Image: Male and female capelin. Credit: The Navigator

Ocean Warming Blamed for Lack of Iceland’s Capelin

By Lowana Veal

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – After five research expeditions in search of capelin, Iceland’s Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (IMFRI) has decided not to recommend a quota for it this year, arguing that global warming is probably responsible for the lack of the fish.

According to Thorsteinn Sigurdsson, head of the Pelagic Division at the institute, capelin (Mallotus villosus) is a cold-water fish and mostly chooses to be at a marine temperature between 1-3°C. “Concomitant with ocean warming north of Iceland before the turn of the century, changes started to appear in the distribution of capelin off Iceland and instead of being spread out to the north of Iceland and the West Fjords, it was mostly found off the east coast of Greenland,” he said.

: Lowana Veal; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 02 April 2019

Strengthening The Evidence Base To Deliver On The 2030 Agenda

Viewpoint by Gemma Van Halderen

The writer is Director, Statistics Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). This article appeared as blog on the UNESCAP website on January 2, 2019.

BANGKOK (IDN) – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has set an ambitious agenda of 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 169 global targets and 232 global indicators. But wait, there is more. The indicators are to be disaggregated not by one or two but at least eight different characteristics: income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability and geographic location, or "other". And all "in accordance with the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics" which recognize appropriate and reliable data needs to adhere to certain professional and scientific standards.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 07 January 2019

Photo: Home and boats on the water. © Curt Carnemark/World Bank

Sustainable Blue Economy Movement Gains Momentum

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – The concept of sustainable blue economy is gaining momentum, including at the highest levels of decision making, encouraging proponents of the growing movement to believe that humans can use the ocean as a tool for lifting people out of poverty, all the while protecting its valuable ecosystems.

It was not surprising, therefore, that the first-ever Sustainable Blue Economy Conference, held in Kenya in November 2018, brought together thousands of ocean experts and activists to discuss how to sustainably use the ocean, and according to experts, the conference proved to be an important stepping stone towards the next anticipated UN Ocean Conference in 2020.

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; Oceans, seas and marine resources; 03 January 2019

Africa's Blue Economy Or a Global Ocean Grab by the Rich?

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Six counties in Kenya’s coastal region have been tagged for technical training in the blue economy – what some have called "the new frontier of the African Renaissance". The goal is to enable young people to find jobs in the maritime industry.

Kevit Desai, a Kenyan vocational training principal, says institutions of higher learning must begin to focus on developing skills, nurturing innovations and enterprise creation for this "overlooked opportunity". He suggested a post-Blue Economy Conference workshop to create awareness and enhance community participation in this vision for the future.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 18 December 2018

UNDP Welcomes Significant Rise in German Funding

Berlin a 'Launch Partner' to UNDP’s Accelerator Labs in 60 Countries

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has greeted the German government's decision to raise a further 25 percent in funding from its 2019 core resources, which follows a 60 percent increase for 2018. Germany is currently the largest government donor to UNDP.

Germany – which assumes a seat in the UN Security Council on January 1, 2019 as a non-permanent member for 2019-2020 – has also confirmed that it will become a “launch partner” in supporting UNDP’s pioneering and groundbreaking launch in January 2019 of Accelerator Labs in 60 developing countries.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 13 December 2018

Leaders Pledge to Boost Blue Economy, Protect Water Bodies

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (IDN) – The Kenyan capital was literally painted ‘blue’ for the first-ever global conference on the blue economy attended by over 18,000 participants from 180 countries.

Running from November 26 to 28, the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference ended with various countries signing commitments to ensure that humanity benefits from the blue economy – or the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs.

Participants discussed a host of topics around the issue of sustainable use of oceans, seas and inland water bodies, and a joint communiqué issued by leaders undertook to utilise their countries' water resources for the benefit of their people.

: Justus Wanzala; SUSTAINABILITY; Oceans, seas and marine resources; 05 December 2018

Photo: Ocean wave. Credit: blueeconomyconference.go.ke

Blue Economy Conference: Kenya Keen to Stimulate Global Conversations and Partnerships

By Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK | NAIROBI (IDN) – The first ever Sustainable Blue Economy Conference (SBEC) opens on November 26 in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Canada and Japan are co-hosts of the three-day landmark event.

It builds on the momentum of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development comprising 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 2015 Climate Change Conference in Paris and the UN Ocean Conference 2017 'Call for Action'.

Kenya proudly calls the Conference its 'Global First'.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 24 November 2018

Photo: Working from dusk until dawn, fishermen from around the town of Aral in Kazakhstan haul in a catch from the North Aral Sea, where the water level has risen and salinity has decreased – in stark contrast to the larger South Aral Sea, which has gone nearly dry. Credit: Aramco World

Aral Sea Promises to Rise Like Phoenix from the 'Ashes'

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) - The zone of destruction created as a consequence of what has been called "one of the planet's worst environmental disasters" has long crossed the frontiers of Central Asia, demanding urgent measures from the international community.

Every year more than 150 million tons of toxic dust from the bottom of the dried up Aral Sea are carried long distances by the wind to the people in Asia, Europe and even the thinly populated Arctic.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Central Asia; 14 November 2018

Island Nation Seychelles Praised for Launching World's First Sovereign Blue Bond

By Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK | BALI (IDN) – The Government of the Republic of Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 granite and coral islands in the Indian Ocean, off East Africa, has been acclaimed for showing "the leadership to create the world's first sustainable Blue Bond".

The pioneering financial instrument was launched within four weeks of the High-Level Forum the government of Seychelles organised together with the 79-member African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States at the United Nations headquarters in New York focusing on the emerging new "blue economy" underlining the protection and preservation of the world's heavily-exploited oceans.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Oceans, seas and marine resources; 31 October 2018

Photo (l to r): President Danny Faure of the Republic of Seychelles, ACP Secretary-General Dr .Patrick I Gomes, Ambassador Peter Thompson of Fiji, the UN Special Envoy for Oceans. Credit: Seychelles Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

Blue Economy Key to Small Islands' Survival & Prosperity

By Shanta Roy

NEW YORK (ACP-IDN) – When the 79-member African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States – along with the government of Seychelles – sponsored a high-level forum at the United Nations on September 26, the primary focus was the emerging new "blue economy" underlining the protection and preservation of the world's heavily-exploited oceans.

The world's Small Island Developing States (SIDS), who comprise some of the most environmentally-vulnerable countries, are being increasingly threatened not only by climate change, resulting in rising seas and shrinking lakes, but also suffering the negative after-effects of pollution, sea-bed mining, illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing and the unauthorized extraction of marine resources in the high seas.