Next week, the world will gather in Nice, France for a global dialogue on the future of our oceans. Co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC-3) will be held under the theme ‘Accelerating action and mobilising all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean’.
The conference aims to discuss good ocean governance, strengthening the protection and sustainable use of the ocean, seas and their resources, particularly by advancing the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14): Life Below Water. In light of increasing pressure on marine and coastal ecosystems, whose impacts are becoming more visible both for marine life and the communities that depend on it, UNOC3 is set to be a critical milestone in reviving weak international cooperation and enhancing collective action for the ocean. The conference will also discuss the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Treaty). An important piece of international law which Sri Lanka has signed onto. By signing BBNJ in February this year, Sri Lanka reaffirmed its commitment to a sustainable, inclusive, and rules-based approach to managing ocean spaces in the high seas.
Sri Lanka as an island is linked to the oceans around it and is dependent on the seas for much. Sri Lanka and the future of its oceans was the theme of an expert panel discussion held last week, organised by the French Embassy in Sri Lanka at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute (LKI). The panel discussion explored Sri Lanka’s strategic role in the Indian Ocean and its growing engagement in sustainable ocean governance. During the panel discussion, it was disclosed that Sri Lanka held a weeklong workshop last week, organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with support from the Commonwealth and Australia to build awareness among our stakeholders about the new legislation, how it may impact Sri Lanka and to discuss how the new legislation can be ratified. Experts and practitioners on the panel described the importance of the Indian Ocean to Sri Lanka, for trade, commerce, tourism, security, industry, energy and also for food security – a crisis Sri Lanka recently weathered. With coastal fish stocks depleting, cross border IUU fishing by Indian trawler fleets damaging what little habitat was left in the northern waters, Sri Lankan fishermen are casting their net wide in the Indian Ocean, going as the Arabian gulf, Madagascar and South towards the French Reunion islands, and across towards Indonesia in search of priced fish.
The new BBNJ legislation will bring opportunities and challenges to Sri Lanka, and as such it is important for the island to move quickly to study it, our needs and wants from the sea, and decide how our national interests can be secured. However, some panellists pointed out that Sri Lanka will need support to do so, adding that Sri Lanka should look for assistance on the matter. Others lamented that Sri Lanka has too many regulations and the red tape is so thick to effectively reap benefits from the opportunities, and is also slow to act. This is one reason why Sri Lanka finds it difficult to attract foreign investments in general, they opined.
According to the Deputy Foreign Minister Arun Hemachadra, Sri Lanka will dispatch the head of its Ocean Affairs desk at the Foreign Ministry to represent the island nation at this most vital conference. While practitioner participation is important, a question must be asked, why Sri Lanka is not dispatching a ministerial delegation, with senior state officials, legal experts, and scientists in tow? Sri Lanka needs to be far sighted and act quickly to focus on key international commitments which impact the island in many ways. The BBNJ and the UNOC 3 conference should have been seen as an opportunity and acted on with more priority and effort.