By John Ndegwa / BMA
President William Ruto has called for more global political will and action in protecting oceans and translating conservation promises into reality.
While closing the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, the first to be held on African soil, the President said: “Let me reiterate that commitments without the means to deliver them will never match the urgency or the scale of what the ocean now demands of us.”
He added: “The world has one honest option: To turn political promises into real action; to green our ports; drive blue-green industrialization; create high-value and dignified jobs, and secure a living and resilient ocean.”
The annual convention, which began in 2014, brings together businesses, NGOs, and scientists to protect marine environments and build sustainable blue economies.
This year’s conference was attended by over 6,000 participants from over 100 countries and institutions across the world.
UN Secretary-General Special Envoy for the Ocean Peter Tomson, and European Union Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis, among others.
President Ruto called on world leaders to find ways to mobilize finance, deploy technology and innovation, build capacity and harness synergies to deliver on the pledges made at the conference.
“We did not come to Mombasa to add our names to a longer list of promises. We came to turn the tide. Let the measure of this conference not be what we pledged on the shore, but what we deliver in the water,” he said.
This year’s conference registered 300 new commitments with a value of $6.4 billion (KSh832 billion), with Kenya alone making 50 commitments valued at $1.1 billion (KSh143 billion) to support the blue economy sector.
“Delivered in full, these commitments will expand our marine protected areas, restore our fisheries, combat climate change, cut pollution, build sustainable blue economies, and strengthen maritime security, ultimately growing our shared ocean wealth,” he said.
On his part, President Mwinyi said the conference reflects Africa’s growing leadership in ocean governance and sustainable blue economy development.
“However, unlocking the full potential of Africa’s blue economy requires addressing persistent financing gaps, limited technology access and institutional capacity challenges,” he said.
Tomson, the UN Secretary-General envoy, said despite the damage humankind has inflicted on the ocean through pollution, there was need to remain optimistic that it can be undone.
“The call to action is for humankind to put an end to the anthropogenic maladies we have put on the ocean’s health, which means that the green transition to renewable energy and circular economies,” he said.
Echoing the position, Kadis, the European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, said that threats to the ocean is global in nature, and the response to saving it must similarly be global.
During the closing ceremony, Kenya handed over to Canada, next year’s conference host.
At the function at the conference were Cabinet Secretaries Hassan Joho (Blue Economy), Salim Mvurya (Sports), Soipan Tuya (Defence) and Beatrice Askul (East African Community), Governors Abdulswamad Nassir Shariff (Mombasa), Gideon Mung’aro (Kilifi), Dhadho Godhana (Tana River), and Andrew Mwadime (Taita Taveta), Principal Secretaries and MPs, among others and BMA CEO Dr. Eric Katana.
