Commonwealth and Nordic countries join forces on ocean strategy

Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma met yesterday with his counterpart at the Nordic Council of Ministers Secretariat, Dagfinn Høybråten.

The two discussed collaboration between their organisations on practical steps to support small island developing states globally in securing the benefits of the blue economy, otherwise known as the oceans economy.

Mr Sharma said: “The blue economy offers important development opportunities to small island developing states through the sustainable use of ocean resources. This cooperation could potentially benefit over half of the Commonwealth’s member countries, which because of their small size and geographic isolation are economically vulnerable.

“To this end, we have agreed to a technical partnership with the Nordic Council of Ministers Secretariat and to pursue a pilot project involving The Bahamas and Seychelles in cooperation with the governments of Iceland and the Faroe Islands, on a co-financing basis.”

The pilot project will draw on work being undertaken by both organisations on developing approaches to assess opportunities for economic diversification based on biological resources. It will build on existing work by the Commonwealth Secretariat on the delimitation of national maritime boundaries and strategies for the sustainable management of marine and coastal resources and activities.

Mr Sharma added: “This pilot project aims to better understand the development opportunities the oceans present to small island developing states and to provide practical ways to assist them to diversify their existing economic base.”