Marine Regions Forum at UN Oceans Conference 2022

The Marine Regions Forum team together with partners organised two events during the 2022 UN Ocean Conference (UNOC) from 27 June – 1 July 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal. The UNOC, co-hosted by Portugal and Kenya, had as theme “Scaling up ocean action based on science and innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: stocktaking, partnerships and solutions” and aimed to mobilise action to implement sustainable development goal (SDG) 14.

On Wednesday 29 June, the team hosted a Friends of the Marine Regions Forum meeting, an informal lunch exchange which gathered 42 partners and friends to celebrate five years of Marine Regions Forum. It was opened by Anders Grönvall, State Secretary for Climate and Environment, Sweden; Bettina Hoffmann, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Germany; Alexandre Bartolomeu, Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development, Mozambique; and Raphaël Goulet, Head of Unit for Ocean Governance, Law of the Sea, Arctic Policy of Directorate General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission.

The contributions shared progress since the launch of the Marine Regions Forum in 2017 and the first conference held in 2019 in Berlin and highlighted the key role of marine regions for the implementation of SDG 14. Participants renewed their support to the Marine Regions Forum, welcoming the initiative to organize the 2023 edition in the Western Indian Ocean. The official part of the lunch event ended with the launch of a new Policy Brief titled Sustainable Blue Recovery: Fostering Resilience for Marine Regions.

Panel at the Friends of the Marine Regions Forum Exchange Lunch © PROG – Klaudija Cremers

© PROG – Luise v. Pogrell

IASS, IDDRI and TMG, who together constitute the Partnership for Regional Ocean Governance (PROG), also co-hosted an official side event during UNOC together with the Swedish Ministry of Environment, the Italian Ministry for Ecological Transition, the Government of Mauritius and the Slovenian Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning. During this event, entitled “Fostering multi-stakeholder partnerships and regional cooperation for SDG14” and moderated by Tatjana Hema, UNEP/MAP Coordinator, panelists highlighted successful examples of how multi-stakeholder partnerships and regional cooperation are cornerstones for achieving SDG 14.

Barbara Neumann, Senior Research Associate at IASS, represented the PROG and described how the Marine Regions Forum contributes to fostering regional cooperation for the implementation of SDG14. Thomas Klein, Head of Department of the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, concluded the side event and announced that Sweden and the European Commission will co-host the next Marine Regions Forum in the WIO region in 2023.

Panel at the official side event © PROG

© PROG

For more information please contact: marineregionsforum@iass-potsdam.de