Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland spoke of the importance of the Commonwealth’s proposed Blue Charter when she met with UN Special Envoy on Oceans Peter Thomson at Marlborough House.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland spoke of the importance of the Commonwealth’s proposed Blue Charter when she met with UN Special Envoy on Oceans Peter Thomson at Marlborough House.
They agreed on the need to attain balance between oceans protection and production, and reiterated the delicate dependencies between climate, land, oceans and people in Commonwealth member states.
Special Envoy Thompson said: “The significant amount of existing ocean initiatives and processes at the international, regional and national levels underscores that everyone has to be involved in ocean action.”
Secretary-General Scotland and Special Envoy Thompson expressed mutual support for upcoming initiatives such as the proposed UN Ocean Conference in 2020, as well as the Commonwealth’s proposed Blue Charter.
The Blue Charter would apply the 16 principles and values of the Commonwealth Charter to ocean governance. They include environmental protection, good governance, justice and peace, human rights and gender equality, and recognition of the needs of vulnerable nations and young people.
