Anterior
Leaders, ministers, scientists and international partners gathered from June 3-4 at the Island States Ocean Summit in Tokyo, co-chaired by President Surangel S. Whipps Jr of Palau alongside Yohei Sasakawa Honorary Chair of the Nippon Foundation and Vidar Helgesen Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.
The summit highlighted the critical role of island states in ocean stewardship and the urgent need for international cooperation to address climate change, biodiversity loss and the sustainable management of ocean resources.
A key announcement was the launch of a new ‘Ocean States Initiative’ by the Nippon Foundation to strengthen ocean leadership, resilience and sustainable development across island nations.
The initiative will focus on three areas:
- Developing the next generation of ocean leaders through education, training and capacity-building.
- Establishing an Ocean Hub in Tokyo to connect policymakers, scientists and practitioners.
- Supporting the development and implementation of Sustainable Ocean Planning and Management (SOPM) through a new support platform.
The summit outcomes point toward a more integrated gobal ecosystem of ocean governance where political ambition, multilateral coordination and practical implementation support are joined up. This is an important step in advancing the “100% approach” pioneered by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy which is the commitment to sustainably manage 100% of ocean areas under national jurisdiction.
The new support platform provides a multilateral framework which will reinforce the 100% approach to ocean management where ambitions are high and goals are backed up by the means to achieve them. The Ocean Panel remains the principal agenda-setter and leading advocate of the 100% approach with the 100% Alliance serving as the mechanism for widening political commitment beyond Ocean Panel members, and Ocean Action 2030 acting as the coalition that helps countries access the technical and financial assistance needed to develop and implement Sustainable Ocean Plans.
“The Summit shows that the Sustainable Ocean Planning agenda is maturing. The Ocean Panel has helped define the ambition of sustainably managing 100% of ocean areas under national jurisdiction, working with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to turn the goal nto practical guidance and support for countries. It has also launched the 100% Alliance as a growing global platform for ambition, and Ocean Action 2030 as a mechanism to turn commitments into action through technical and financial support”, said Tom Pickerell, Head of the Ocean Panel Secretariat. “The new Support Platform can build on this momentum by helping align partners behind country-led implementation.”
