Life Below Water
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.
International Criminal Court: Beyond the threats of withdrawal
Sometime last year, three African countries—Burundi, the Gambia and South Africa—signalled their intention to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC). There was fear that more countries would follow.
Overfishing destroying livelihoods
It was midnight on 14 December 2016, when five fishermen in Tombo village near Freetown in Sierra Leone revved up a small outboard engine and powered their boat far out to sea. They threw in their net and soon bagged a good quantity of fish. But as they hauled in their catch, a terrible storm blew in. When the waters finally calmed, one of them, an 18-year-old named Alimamy, could not be found.
Urban growth a boon for Africa’s industrialization
There has been much talk about Africa’s urban dividends—the increased prosperity and sustained socioeconomic development resulting from the expansion and industrialization of African cities.
Natural cure
This amazing, spinning ball of rock and water, hurtling through space at more than 100,000 kilometres an hour, provides us with everything we need to live and be healthy. It’s a delicate balance, with various interconnected natural systems — hydrologic and carbon cycles, ocean and atmospheric currents among them — creating ideal conditions for human life.
If you eat, you’re in!
What wouldn't we do for our kids? We play in the park, cut down on sugar, walk them home from school, talk around that all-important dinner table - the stuff of everyday life that shows we care.
Connecting in nature
Canada has 46 national parks and reserves, 171 national historic sites and four national marine conservation areas, adding up to 300,000 square kilometres of protected areas. They represent the country's massive, yet varied, landscapes from the towering mountains of Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, to the sparkling sands of Sable Island National Park Reserve off Nova Scotia, to the lush rain forest of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve on the coast of British Columbia. All these places tell Canada's ecological and cultural story. As its population becomes increasingly urban – and with the average park over two hours from a city – the need is to make more visiting opportunities available.
The rights of rivers
History was made recently when a court recognized the rivers Ganges and Yamuna as a living entity. This affords opportunities to tackle problems related to water and climate change sustainably amid the rapid melting of Himalayan glaciers, the depletion of groundwater resources, pollution of ground and surface water resources, erratic rainfall patterns that wreak havoc with human lives and property, and calamities like flash floods, landslides, avalanches and famines.
Nature of risk
Conditions are conducive to human life in most inhabited areas much of the time, but nature can strike at almost any moment. When severe natural catastrophes hit densely populated and economically developed areas, these rare events bring large economic costs. They can also hurt a sovereign credit rating, a reflection of a national government’s ability and willingness to honor its financial obligations on time and in full.
Attention! That’s a precious resource
There was no need to implore our forebears to get outdoors and be in nature. Presumably these ancestors also rarely experienced any gap between what was interesting in their environment and what was important to attend. But the times are ever-changing. Today these two vectors – the important and the interesting – are often at odds as inordinate amounts of information, and the ease of accessing it, dominate our swirling world.
UN environment at work. Cutting poverty by fostering environmental sustainability
Forests, lakes, rivers and fertile land provide income and employment for many men and women living in Africa. But unsustainable use of these resources can trap them in poverty. One way to reduce poverty and catalyse change is by producing and using evidence that brings together the environmental, economic and social dimensions of development. This is the so-called integrated approach to sustainable development.
Recreating the commons
When I presented core concepts and findings on local economic development as a possible report to the Club of Rome under the title "The Blue Economy: 100 innovations, 10 years, 100 million jobs," in April 2009, I sketched out a vision. This was based on an understanding that nature in general – and a wide range of ecosystems in particular – has overcome nearly every imaginable challenge over the past millions of years, and therefore provides an inspiration for how society can chart a pathway towards the future.
Small and beautiful
World Environment Day is very important for Bhutan. We take advantage of it to further enhance awareness of environmental conservation and to bring together communities from all walks of life to show solidarity towards keeping our environment beautiful and healthy. Our small Himalayan kingdom, while pursuing economic development, has taken strong steps to maintain our environment for this and future generations.
Innovation. A serious game for serious issues
The Aqua Republica game combines game mechanics and hydrological simulations to help people better appreciate the inter-linkages between water resources, social and economic development, and environmental sustainability.
Environmental champion
Some 30 years ago, the celebrated author Annie Proulx was driving through the backroads of Michigan's Upper Peninsula when she came to a highway junction, marked only by an apparently closed laundromat. “Across the road” she told Our Planet “was a large sign, announcing that in that place in the nineteenth century had grown the finest white pine forest in the world. There was not a single white pine in sight”.
UN environment at work. The tricky business of measuring a country’s true wealth
Human well-being and wealth are not only determined by economic activity but also by the services we get from nature. Gross Domestic Product measures economic transactions, regardless of whether they are positive or negative for human well-being or a nation’s wealth. It cannot measure the sustainability of economic activities, and it doesn’t capture the contribution of nature to our welfare.
Convención de las Naciones Unidas Sobre El Derecho Del Mar
Estado de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Derecho del Mar, del Acuerdo relativo a la Aplicación de la Parte XI de la Convención y del Acuerdo sobre la Aplicación de las Disposiciones de la Convención relativas a la Conservación y Ordenación de las Poblaciones de Peces Transzonales y las Poblaciones de Peces Altamente Migratorios, al 31 de julio de 2020