Doha, 08 June 2022

Ambassador Badr Omar Al Dafa, Special Envoy of Minister of Foreign Affairs for Climate Change and Sustainability, has stressed the importance of creating a better and sustainable future for the world and future generations.

He was speaking at a seminar during the inauguration of ‘The Blue Talks In Doha, Qatar’ at the Qatar National Library auditorium on Tuesday. The seminar was
organised in cooperation with Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar; Embassy of Portugal; and Embassy of Kenya.

Those present on the occasion included Manuel Gomes Samuel, Charge d’ Affaires of Portugal; Ambassador Washington Oloo, Charge D’ Affairs of Kenya; ambassadors; diplomats; experts; academics and researchers. Ambassador Al Dafa thanked the embassies of Portugal and Kenya for cooperating in organising talks on clean environment in order to prepare the ground for the 2022 United Nations Ocean Conference.

Al Dafa said, “Our oceans are facing major threats such as pollution, destruction of aquatic life and a significant decrease in fish stocks due to climate change.” He pointed to the importance of the ocean in protecting people against the worst effects of climate change by absorbing more than 90 percent of global warming that
appeared in the past 50 years, noting that about 8 million tons of plastic waste seep into the oceans every year.

The Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Climate Change and Sustainability pointed out that humans have increased ocean pollution by 30 percent over the past two centuries, and that in 2019, the ocean surface temperature increased by 57 percent due to climate change, which threatens the marine biological system and the capacity of the oceans in providing resources to coastal communities.

He said the sea-level rise would likely threaten 200 million people living in lowlying coastal areas. He said they should listen to experts about ways to protect and conserve the marine and coastal ecosystems and how to promote the sustainable use of water resources.

He stressed, however, that protecting communities and oceans as well as the planet means the international community must cooperate to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.

Al Dafa stressed the importance of creating a better and sustainable future for the world and future generations, and added that societies need to concentrate their efforts to build impact through these initiatives, and people need to support the Global Instrument to End Plastic Pollution by framing political and technological innovations that make economic trading practical and feasible, and to stimulate public and private financing in the field of clean environment.

Manuel Gomes Samuel, Charge d’ Affaires of Portugal, welcomed the guests and briefed the gathering on the program and importance of the Doha Talks.

Alexandra Sousa Esteves of the embassy of Portugal was the master of ceremony.

Two panels discussed ‘Managing, Protecting, Conserving and Restoring Marine and Coastal Ecosystems’ and ‘Promoting and Strengthening the Sustainable  exploitation of Underwater Resources’.

The 2022 UN Ocean Conference will be held from June 27 June to 1 July in Lisbon. It is co-hosted by Portugal and Kenya under the theme “Scaling up the ocean action based on science and innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: stocktaking, partnerships and solutions”. It will provide a critical opportunity to mobilize partnerships and increase investment in science-driven approaches to achieve SDG 14.

In the run-up to the conference, “Blue Talks” are taking place around the world, to discuss the core issues that will be addressed at the conference,  on textualizing the debate with an overview of the status quo while underlining the urgency of finding solutions to the challenges identified.

The objective is to trigger the debate and wide interest in Ocean related issues and by extend active participation in the UN Ocean Conference, to promote SDG 14, the sharing of experiences and innovative approaches, and to identify opportunities to mobilize the public and private sectors.