Minister of State for Diaspora and International Development Ciaran Cannon, T.D. will address the Our Ocean Conference being held in Oslo, Norway on 23rd and 24th October 2019.
Speaking ahead of the conference, Minister Cannon stated:
Building on Ireland previous commitments, this year I am proud to commit €4 million to a newly established Ocean Initiative. This initiative will provide short-term capacity support to Small Island Development States (SIDS), and fund long term collaborative research between Irish counterparts (private sector or academics) and SIDS, in the area of coastal and marine management.
The new initiative is part of Ireland’s recently launched Strategy for Partnership with SIDS and will help meet commitments made in A Better World, Ireland’s policy for international development, to address climate change and protect our marine environment.
Minister Cannon concluded
This conference is a welcome opportunity for Ireland to engage with representatives of international governments, business, NGOs, foundations, research institutes and international organisations in presenting commitments that will contribute to the protection and sustainable use of the world’s oceans.
Note to Editors
The Our Ocean series of conferences began in the United States in 2014 with the aim of bringing the international community together to generate global action for safe, secure and healthy oceans.
The conference addresses challenges facing the world’s oceans in the areas of climate change, marine pollution, sustainable fisheries, marine litter, the sustainable blue economy and maritime security, with participants making commitments that will contribute to the protection and sustainable use of the world’s oceans. As of 2018, the conference series has generated 305 tangible and measurable commitments, USD 10.7 billion in monetary commitments and 14 million square kilometres of Marine Protected Area.
Irish commitments at the 2019 conference include €30 million in funding to support marine research & development covering areas such as climate change and its effect on fish stock distribution, ocean modelling, renewable energy and aquatic bio-resources.