Shipping Deputy Minister to the President, Marina Hadjimanolis, said Cyprus firmly believes that it is of crucial importance to intensify our efforts for conserving the marine ecosystems and preserving marine life.
She told the opening ceremony of the inaugural Commonwealth Ocean Ministers meeting held in Paphos on Friday that it is “time to commit and act to reverse the biodiversity loss, and prevent ecosystems degradation from pollution, climate change and other human activities.”
Hadjimanolis also expressed the hope that the inaugural Commonwealth Ministerial Meeting will set the stage for an open and constructive dialogue, that will pave the way for the adoption of a meaningful and ambitious Commonwealth Ocean Declaration in Samoa in October this year.
Referring to the meeting, she said Cyprus expressed its readiness to organize and host a Commonwealth Ministerial Meeting for promoting a sustainable agenda for our seas and oceans following the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that took place i
n Kigali, Rwanda in June 2022.
Noting this is the very first Commonwealth ministerial meeting devoted to the ocean, under the theme ‘Our resilient common ocean: from Cyprus to Samoa’ the COMM will establish a shared Commonwealth voice on ocean issues, through a sharing of experiences and progress to date in implementing international commitments and the Commonwealth Blue Charter. Its primary aim, she added, is to establish the principles, priorities and actions for the future Commonwealth Ocean Declaration, and to agree upon a roadmap and timeframe which will pave the way for adoption of the Declaration at Head of Governments Meeting in Samoa, in October this year.
Cyprus, she said, “being an island maritime state acknowledges that our seas and ocean are valuable resources and an integral part of our economy, not to mention our identity”. At the same time, it recognises that the ocean challenges are too big and cannot be tackled alone by any single country. It was for this reason that Cyprus joined the Comm
onwealth Blue Charter and chose to champion the Sustainable Aquaculture Action Group.
Taking another decisive step forward, Hadjimanolis said “we are ready to establish a Blue Charter Center of Excellence in Cyprus. A relevant Memorandum of Understanding will be signed right afterwards, between the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Shipping Deputy Ministry and the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute which will host the Center”.
The aim of the Center of Excellence, said the Deputy Minister, “is to strengthen governance for a sustainable blue economy and to support the coordination and undertaking of research that will facilitate towards a fair and sustainable approach to ocean protection and a carbon-neutral blue economy, in the framework of meeting the targets of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in relation to SDG 14 (life below water)”.
Noting that Cyprus is already implementing a national integrated Blue Growth strategy, she said the first National Maritime Spatial Plan was approved by t
he Council of Ministers in December 2023 and promotes sustainable development at sea, applying an ecosystem approach and taking into account economic, social, environmental and cultural aspects, as well as promoting the coexistence of related activities and uses.
As a leading maritime nation, Cyprus feels responsible to accelerate the transition of shipping to a low carbon and climate resilient industry. For this reason, she said “we strongly support the IMO Strategy on Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships, aiming at achieving zero emissions in shipping by or close to 2050”. We are also extremely pleased that the IMO has designated the Mediterranean Sea as Sulphate Oxides Emission Control Area (SECA), as from 1st January 2025. Cyprus actively advocated in favour of this action, said Hadjimanolis.
In her opening remarks, the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Dr Maria Panayiotou said “we strongly believe that Commonwealth countries can work together, collaboratively, ackn
owledging ‘our resilient common ocean’ and to carry forward this momentum leading towards the drafting of the Commonwealth Ocean Declaration, a significance joint commitment towards achieving healthy and resilient Ocean”.
Panayiotou said “oceans have been a significant food source since prehistoric times and have supported our survival and prosperity for thousands of years through fishing, aquaculture, transport, tourism, recreation, and not only. However, all these benefits provided by our seas and oceans are under threat from our human activities”.
She said the Mediterranean Sea, where Cyprus is lying, hosts a wide range of unique and diverse marine life and is considered as one of the 25 global biodiversity recognized centres. Being a semi-enclosed sea, the Mediterranean, home to more than 17,000 marine species, is also characterized by the highest rate of endemism globally, with 20-30% of endemic species.
The Mediterranean, the Minister said, “faces multiple challenges due to unprecedented biodiversity
loss arising from overfishing, habitat destruction, intensive urbanization and tourism, overexploitation of resources, maritime transport, pollution and climate change”.
It is also particularly vulnerable to the introduction of non-indigenous marine species, several of which are characterized as invasive and cause significant problems for native species and habitats.
The protection of our seas and oceans can only be achieved through global and regional cooperation, said Panayiotou, adding at an international level the Convention of Biological Diversity provides the necessary tools for the creation of Marine Protected Areas to reach the protection of 30% of Ocean.
In parallel to this international process, there is a number of regionally focused initiatives deriving from regional conventions or institutions like the European Union.
The sustainable management and protection of marine and coastal ecosystems including the strengthening of their resilience, is crucial in order to avoid significant adverse impa
cts and achieve healthy and productive oceans, said Panayiotou.
She noted that fish stocks in the Mediterranean have been declining for decades with 75% of Mediterranean and Black Sea stocks, for which validated assessments are available, are fished at biologically unsustainable levels, and despite recent efforts the situation is not improving.
“Immediate measures and actions needed to be established to alter the decline of the stocks and ensure the sustainability of fisheries sector in the Mediterranean Sea Last but not least, seas and oceans are still largely unexplored and many knowledge gaps on marine processes and the impact of human activities on the complex marine ecosystem should be addressed”, the Minister said.
Concluding, Panayiotou noted “I believe that our common vision for sustainable oceans can be achieved through building of strong commitments and solid coordinated actions for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity and resources”.
Source: Cyprus News Agency