The week-long UN Ocean conference concluded this week in Lisbon Portugal, with the unanimous adoption of the Lisbon Declaration “our ocean, our future our responsibility.”
This agreement, together with bold commitments from all sectors of society — youth, civil society, businesses and the scientific community — clearly demonstrates the centrality of a safe, healthy and productive ocean to food security, livelihoods and a safe planet.
“The Conference has been an enormous success,” stated Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel Miguel de Serpa Soares in his closing remarks.
“It has given us the opportunity to highlight critical issues and generate new ideas and commitments. But it has also shed light on the work that remains, and the need to scale this up and raise ambition for the recovery of our ocean.”
More than 6,000 participants, including 24 Heads of State and Government and over 2,000 representatives of civil society joined the Conference in Lisbon and galvanized efforts to save our ocean.
The Conference succeeded in translating ideas into action. A plethora of bold and firm commitments have been made from every sector of industry and all stakeholders, including an emphasis on eliminating plastic marine litter and supporting innovative science-based actions to save our ocean.
With the conclusion of the Conference, a new wave of ocean actions will sail from Lisbon to all corners of the world.
