Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, speaks today at the II United Nations Conference on the Oceans, which starts on the same day and runs until Friday, in Lisbon.
The Angolan statesman, who arrived in the Portuguese capital late yesterday afternoon, could be the first to speak at the event, which will also include the intervention of other Heads of State and Government of the 193 member countries of the United Nations.
The Secretary of the President of the Republic for Institutional Communication and Press Affairs, Luís Fernando, said, Saturday, when he announced the trip to Lisbon, that the Angolan statesman will share, at the Conference, the vision of Angola “in relation to the how the country wants the oceans and huge resources to be treated”.
For his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, made it known, when he was launching Angola’s participation in the event, that the speech by the Head of State will be the highest point of his work agenda in Lisbon. The head of Angolan diplomacy said that the Head of State will also speak on behalf of the Community that Angola currently represents – in an allusion to the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
“It talks about the Republic of Angola and what we do and what is our perspective regarding this Conference, which is quite important, we think, taking into account what the Blue Economy represents”, he highlighted.
According to Téte António, the President of the Republic’s agenda also includes a visit to the CPLP headquarters, as the current president of the organisation.
Angola is a candidate for vice-presidency and rapporteur for the United Nations Ocean Conference. The Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed that the country is interested in participating, closely, in the definition of strategies and in the implementation of the decisions that have been taken at these meetings on the oceans.
“It is a way for us to ensure that the Republic of Angola can not only take care of its interests, but also other interests of the members of the United Nations, as well as take care of implementation, above all, which is the most important part,” he said. the minister.
João Lourenço returns to Lisbon, as President of the Republic, three years later. The first official visit to this country took place in 2018 and was invited by his Portuguese counterpart, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Oceans Worry
World leaders will take advantage of this Lisbon Conference to discuss the future of the oceans, due to the negative impact of human action, which is jeopardizing their sustainability. The Conference, under the general theme “expanding ocean action, based on Science and innovation, for the implementation of Objective 14: inventory, partnerships and solutions”, was postponed since 2020.
The Heads of State and Government want to take advantage of the Conference, organized by the governments of Portugal and Kenya, to join voices and mobilize global support, in order to implement, create, conserve and use, in a sustainable way, the seas, oceans and marine resources. The organization highlights that despite the progress made in ocean actions, the health of the oceans continues to deteriorate rapidly, due to the multidimensional challenges of pollution, overfishing and climate change.
Allied to the situation is the Covid-19 pandemic, which has made unfeasible the hard-won progress in the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda Goals, including Goal 14, thus bringing a new set of challenges to the achievement of goals. targets by 2030.
The organization emphasizes that the Conference will drive much-needed innovative, science-based solutions aimed at starting a new chapter of global ocean action.
In his message on the occasion of World Oceans Day, marked on the 8th of this month, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, said that the World Meteorological Organization revealed that four essential climate indicators set new records in 2021, namely, the rise sea level, ocean temperature, acidification and greenhouse gas concentrations. He said this picture makes it clear that the triple crisis of climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution is threatening the health of the oceans on which we all depend.
“The oceans produce more than 50 percent of the planet’s oxygen and are the main source of livelihood for more than a billion people,” Guterres said in the message, noting that ocean-based industries employ about 40 million people.
The United Nations Secretary-General noted that ocean resources and biodiversity are being compromised due to human activities, revealing that more than a third of the world’s fish stocks are harvested at biologically unsustainable levels. For this reason, António Guterres defended, in this speech, that it is time for the world to understand that, in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the Goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, collective action is urgently needed to revitalize the oceans.
“This means finding a new balance in our relationship with the marine environment”, he stressed. António Guterres informed that the Lisbon Conference will continue the debates on a new agreement for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas outside the jurisdiction national.
“Ensuring healthy and productive oceans is our collective responsibility, which we can only fulfill by working together”, he urged, in the message on the occasion of World Oceans Day.
Schedule
The President of the Republic’s work agenda includes bilateral meetings with his Portuguese counterpart, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres.
The Angolan statesman will grant an audience to the OACP Troika, Sung-Min Jang, special envoy of the President of Korea, António Mota, CEO of Mota Engil, Oliveira Econge, permanent representative to the CPLP, and visits the headquarters of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
The President of the Republic grants an interview to RTP-África tomorrow.
Program About A Thousand Entities
The Conference program brings together nine plenary meetings, including opening and closing segments, as well as eight interactive dialogues, taking place in parallel with the plenary meetings.
In addition to the official programme, the meeting also includes special events on youth, sustainable blue economy, fresh and salt water interconnections and ocean action at local and regional levels, to inform on topics and network with stakeholders and mobilize partnerships .
Other side events are also being organized by governments and interested parties, on the sidelines of the Conference, in person and virtually. Each government delegation will be entitled to four seats in the Plenary and two in the Interactive Dialogue Room. All official meetings will be broadcast via United Nations Web TV.
It is estimated that this Second United Nations Conference on the Oceans will bring together around 900 to 1,000 non-governmental entities, in addition to representatives of the 192 UN countries. It is expected to promote a series of innovative science-based solutions designed to launch a new chapter in global ocean action. It is reported that the United Nations Ocean Conference will adopt a short, concise, action-oriented, intergovernmentally agreed declaration.
Objective 14
The protection of marine life forms part of Sustainable Development Goal 14 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, and underlines the need to conserve and sustainably use the world’s oceans, seas and marine resources.
The aforementioned Objective was adopted as a fundamental element of the 2030 Agenda, together with the other objectives. The 2030 Agenda, made up of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is a broad and ambitious agenda, approved in 2015, which addresses various dimensions of sustainable development (socio, economic, environmental) and promotes peace, justice and institutions. effective.
The Sustainable Development Goals are based on the progress and lessons learned with the 8 Millennium Development Goals, established between 2000 and 2015, and are the result of the joint work of governments and citizens around the world. The 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are the common vision for Humanity, a contract between world leaders and people and a checklist of things to do on behalf of people and the planet.
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