Celebrating World Oceans Day 2020, on 8 June, the Commonwealth Secretariat kicked off with the first Commonwealth Blue Charter webinar in its new series.
Celebrating World Oceans Day 2020, on 8 June, the Commonwealth Secretariat kicked off with the first Commonwealth Blue Charter webinar in its new series.
With 45% of coral reefs in Commonwealth waters and more than 90% of reefs globally predicted to be lost to climate change, the webinar highlighted the efforts member countries and Vulcan Inc. are undertaking to map and accelerate protection and restoration of these precious ecosystems.
Blue Charter action
The event was hosted by The Commonwealth Secretary-General, The Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland QC, with a special address from Her Excellency Dr Farah Faizal, High Commissioner of Maldives to the UK.
The event highlighted the actions and progress of three Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Groups:
Global coral atlas
Vulcan Inc. demonstrated the Allen Coral Atlas which is bringing together multiple datasets to develop a detailed global coral atlas. Countries can utilise this map to inform their policy decisions to protect and restore coral reefs.
Maps for Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Fiji, Jamaica, Kenya, Mozambique, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Tonga and Tuvalu are available on the Commonwealth Innovation Hub.
During the webinar, a new short film produced by the Commonwealth Blue Charter highlighting the 10 Action Groups was also premiered.
Over 200 people from 56 countries around the world participated in the webinar, which finished with a panel discussion including questions from the audience.
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- target="_blank">Download the flyer and programme (PDF 500 KB)DocumentWorld Oceans Day - Poster Final 27-05-2020.pdf (501.43 KB)
- Find out more about the Blue Charter webinar series
