The Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, chaired by HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa, organized, in partnership with the Embassy of Portugal in Morocco, a “Blue talk” entitled “United Nations Conference 2022 on the Oceans: what roles for science and innovation in Morocco and Africa? “in the presence of Mohamed Sadiki, Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, and José Maria Costa, Portuguese Secretary of State for the Sea, as well as many speakers and high-level experts representing national and international institutions, including Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC UNESCO), and Peter Thomson, Special Envoy for the Oceans of the United Nations Secretary General.
On this occasion, José Maria Costa declared that “the Second United Nations Conference on the Oceans is the ideal stage to move from discussion to action. Portugal hopes that all nations of the world will come to the UN Conference on the Oceans with strong ambition and commitment to take action to reverse the decline in the health of the oceans.
He added that “Portugal hopes that the ambitious commitments made at the Conference will lead to the full implementation of the targets of SDG 14, the 30by30 Initiative to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030, and to support the planned and future actions of the UN Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development”.
Held at the Hassan II International Center for Environmental Training, the academic arm of the Foundation, this Blue Talk is part of the continuity of activities and actions carried out by the Foundation and its partners for 20 years. Thus, HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa has been appointed by the United Nations as the Patron of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development in 2021.
The two panels of the “Blue Talk” were an opportunity for speakers and participants to highlight the role of science and innovation for a sustainable exploitation of the oceans, to deepen the basis for priority thematic exchanges to be addressed in the framework of the United Nations Conference in Lisbon, to strengthen the momentum for the UN Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development, to build and leverage existing successful partnerships and to stimulate the creation of new innovative partnerships, oriented towards concrete and sustainable positive impact.
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