S'pore seeks to play constructive role in global efforts on ocean-related issues: Vivian

Straits Times

3 days ago

Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan delivering Singapore's national statement at the Third United Nations Ocean Conference, on June 10. PHOTO: MFA
NICE, France – Singapore is a small island state, and the oceans and seas are 'inextricably tied' to the nation's survival and well-being, said Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan on June 13.
'That is why we have always sought to play a constructive role in global efforts on oceans-related issues,' he said in an e-mailed statement to The Straits Times on the final day of the United Nations Ocean Conference. The event in Port Lympia in Nice, France, is held from June 9 to 13.
'The oceans enable maritime trade, food and energy security, and support livelihoods,' said Dr Balakrishnan. 'These are vital to Singapore as a country with trade about three times our GDP and one which depends on imports for our energy and food resources.'
Maritime transport moves more than 80 per cent of goods traded worldwide. Other than being a source of seafood and recreation, the ocean also generates 50 per cent of the oxygen people need, absorbs 25 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions, and captures 90 per cent of the excess heat generated by these emissions.
As a small low-lying island with no buffer, Singapore is also highly vulnerable to the impact of climate change on the oceans such as sea-level rise, coastal degradation or marine pollution, he added.
The minister said Singapore has been participating actively at the UN Ocean Conferences. Singapore served as one of the vice-presidents of the conference. Dr Balakrishnan had also chaired a plenary session at the event.
This year's summit, which gathers representatives from 193 countries, is in its third iteration . Its aim is for countries to adopt an 'action-oriented and inter-governmentally agreed declaration', dubbed the Nice Ocean Action Plan, according to the United Nations.
Various issues were discussed at the conference and its side events, including how to better finance marine conservation, such as through new financing instruments like coral reef bonds, and the importance of developing countries being given assistance to build capabilities to study their marine environments.
Previous editions of the UN Ocean Conferences were held in 2017 and 2022. Korea will host the fourth one in 2028.
Dr Balakrishnan said the summit is an important platform where countries mobilise action for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources.
'This includes reaffirming the international community's commitment to uphold the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos),' he said. Unclos sets out the legal framework for all activities carried out in the oceans and seas.
In 2023, Singapore helped to broker an agreement under Unclos on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity outside national jurisdictions. Among other things, the treaty paves the way for marine protected areas to be established in waters outside national jurisdictions, which cover over two-thirds of the ocean.
The High Seas Treaty, officially called the Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, will enter into force after 60 countries ratify it.
Singapore ratified the agreement in September 2024 – one of 51 countries to have done so, so far.
Dr Balakrishnan said the summit helps to advance collective efforts to protect the oceans, including getting more countries to ratify the BBNJ Agreement.
ST checks showed that almost 20 countries, including Indonesia and Vietnam, had ratified the agreement over the course of the conference.
Countries are also urged to make voluntary commitments on ways to ensure the health and resilience of the ocean during the summit.
In his delivery of Singapore's national statement, Dr Balakrishnan had said Singapore would be renewing 15 of the past voluntary commitments it made to support ocean health, and undertaking 12 new ones. New commitments include efforts to restore coral reefs and seagrass meadows in the Republic.
Dr Balakrishnan also said that as the protection of our global commons in the oceans requires collective efforts, Singapore is also committed to providing capacity building assistance to developing countries.
Under the Singapore Cooperation Programme's Sustainability Action Package, Singapore has conducted over 60 courses for more than 1,600 officials covering issues from rising sea levels to the law of the sea.
Audrey Tan is an assistant news editor overseeing sustainability coverage. She has reported on the environment for more than a decade and hosts the Green Pulse podcast series.
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