The president of Guinea-Bissau was confident that the Oceans Conference, which began in Lisbon, will establish “a new paradigm” in the protection of the oceans and recalled that his country is already facing the challenges of climate change.
My country, Guinea-Bissau, part continental and part insular, with an archipelago of more than 80 islands (…) has the best potential in the field of fishing, tourism, a multifaceted blue economy. (…) But my country is not exactly an ecological oasis”, said Umaro Sissoco Embaló, in his speech at the plenary session of the United Nations Conference on the Oceans.
The Guinean head of state said that Guinea-Bissau has “the same problems, the same challenges that, with greater or lesser severity, other countries face” with identical characteristics, namely erosion of coastal areas.
“That is why it is very important for us to make the Paris Agreement viable. We are doing everything possible to build an economy that is friendly to the health of our rivers, friendly to the Atlantic, which is the ocean that bathes my country,” he said.
The president also stressed that Guinea-Bissau’s greatest hope lies with its youth, who are “increasingly aware of the environment”“Because the future really belongs to the young”.
Greeting the Governments of Portugal and Kenya, co-organizers of the Ocean Conference, Sissoco Embaló said he was “confident that, due to the quality of its organization and even more so due to its ambitious scientific and technological agenda, (…) the Ocean Conference will establish the new paradigm”.
“And this new paradigm will undoubtedly drive innovative solutions to one of humanity’s greatest challenges: conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”
After underlining that the oceans “constitute the largest ecosystem on the planet”, the Guinean leader warned that “no sustainable development will be conceivable if the crucial role of the oceans is not part of its concept”.
“That’s exactly why the slogan ‘Save the oceans, protect the future’ is completely appropriate, pertinent. I would even say that it is a really urgent imperative,” said Sissoco Embaló, referring to the motto of the United Nations Conference on the Oceans.
More than 7,000 people, including representatives from 140 countries, some at the highest level, participate in Lisbon in the second United Nations Conference on the Oceans, the largest event ever dedicated to the subject.
After the first conference held five years ago in New York, Portugal, together with Kenya, organizes the second meeting, under the slogan “Save the oceans, protect the future”.
Source: Observadora
