Ocean Conference: Our best and last chance to get things right Interview - Peter Thomson, President of the UN General Assembly

Peter Thomson assumed his current one-year term as the 71st president of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2016. Before that Mr. Thomson had served since 2010 as Fiji’s permanent representative to the United Nations and its ambassador to Cuba. Africa Renewal’s Masimba Tafirenyika sat down with Mr. Thomson in New York to discuss preparations for the Ocean Conference to be co-hosted by the governments of Fiji and Sweden at UN headquarters from 5 to 9 June 2017. The UN Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, as it is officially called, coincides with World Oceans Day (June 8). SDG 14 deals with the conservation and use of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. The following are excerpts from the interview.