Lisbon — The United Nations Oceans Conference taking place from June 27 to July 1 in Lisbon, Portugal, is expected to discuss issues related to the "rescue" of the Oceans.
For this year's event, the head of the technical team (for Marine Ecosystem Matters) of Angola's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Environment, Catarina Dias, said the country will present the results obtained in the field of World Oceans, following the first Conference held in June 2017, in New York, United States of America.
Angola attends with a Multisectoral team the international event that takes place under the theme "Save the Oceans, Preserve the Future".
The largest area of the oceans that cover 70 percent of the surface of the earth, official data say, are currently threatened by climate change, pollution, excessive extraction of natural resources prompting a chain of consequences.
The impacts have already affected two-thirds of the oceans with consequences for marine biodiversity and life on land.
The mega event has as a priority goal to put into action measures to achieve the 14th United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG14) dedicated to the preservation of the seas and marine resources and to articulate it with the other intentions of the UN Agenda 2030.
In Lisbon, representatives of 193 UN member states are expected to show up (35 countries have already confirmed they are sending high-level representatives) and about a thousand entities from the political sphere, non-governmental organizations, financial and business institutions, the scientific community and civil society.
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Planet's health
"There is no planet without healthy oceans", said the UN Ocean Ambassador, Peter Thomson, in a video promoting the event, published Friday.
The first UN Oceans Conference took place five years ago in New York, but it was not until 2021, at the 26th Climate Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, that the ocean was introduced in the final declaration, which was an advance on the Paris Agreement.
The plenary of the conference will have eight interactive panels, which will dialogue on pertinent issues throughought the week.
Apart from the plenary sessions and the dialogues, the programme also includes four high-level events, namely on Local Governance, Youth and Innovation Forum, a High-Level Symposium, and a Forum on Sustainable Blue Economy.
