Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney, T.D. and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D. will lead the Irish government’s participation in the 2019 SeaFest and Our Ocean Wealth Summit in Cork.
The central theme of this year’s summit ‘shared voices from small island nations’ will focus on the importance of protecting the world’s oceans from the impacts of climate change, for island nations in particular, to ensure a sustainable long term future for the marine economy as a whole.
As evidence of Ireland’s global leadership in this area, a range of international experts will participate, including:
- Former US Secretary of State, John Kerry
- The President of the Seychelles, H.E. Danny Faure
- Peter Thomson, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean
- Foreign Minister of Malta, H.E. Carmelo Abela
- Vice-President of the European Parliament, Mairead McGuinness, MEP
- UN Permanent Representatives from a number of countries including Jamaica, Vanuatu, Antigua and Barbuda, Marshall Islands and Palau
The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney, T.D. said,
As a small island, Ireland understand the threats climate change poses to our friends in the Pacific, Caribbean, Atlantic and Indian oceans. It threatens their very existence.
The 2019 Our Ocean Wealth Summit is a unique gathering of the voices of small island developing states, gathering here in Cork in the understanding that global problems require global solutions. Ireland strongly believes that we can only address this challenge of a generation if we take strong climate justice approach. Emphasising the needs and realities of those who have the most to lose, yet have done least to contribute to the problem, will always be a centerpiece of our approach.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D. stated,
The already present threat posed by climate change is the key challenge of our time and we need to plan for the sustainable future of our marine sector in the context of global ocean challenges. The seas and oceans are the foundation of our marine sector and this year’s summit will focus on the wider context of our shared global ocean resource and how to protect it to ensure a sustainable long term future for the marine.
The updated marine economic statistics will be published on Monday 10 June to coincide with the summit and are expected to indicate that Ireland’s ocean economy has continued to grow significantly. Minister Creed said
We are well on target in terms of our initial ambitions for the marine economy set in the publication of our integrated sustainable development plan for the marine sector ‘Harnessing our ocean wealth’ in 2012. The Government’s commitment to the sector was underpinned recently by the approval of a Marine Planning Policy Statement which sets out the reforms underway to provide a modern, integrated maritime planning system. A Marine Planning and Development Bill is in preparation, and will sit alongside a Maritime Jurisdiction Bill and the National Marine Planning Framework. Together, these will provide a new fit-for-purpose framework for the decades ahead.
Minister Creed will also announce the publication of the annual Progress Report on Ireland’s Integrated Marine Plan - Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth, for 2018, at the summit. This report which contains inputs from across State departments and agencies, provides a wealth of information, spanning governance, research, education, international cooperation, business development, sustainability and protection and conservation of marine ecosystems. The annual ‘Our Ocean Wealth Summit’; forms a key part of the Government’s integrated plan for Ireland’s marine sector and brings together national and international expert speakers, industry leaders, business development agencies and the Irish business and marine research community.
Note for editors:
The Our Ocean Wealth Summit and SeaFest (National Marine Festival) are initiatives of the Inter-Departmental Marine Coordination Group, which is chaired by Minister Creed. For more information see www.seafest.ie and www.ouroceanwealth.ie
The OOW summit and SeaFest are co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union under Ireland’s European Maritime and Fisheries Fund Operational Programme for the seafood sector.