The G7 Environment, Oceans and Energy Ministers met on Healthy Oceans, Seas and Resilient Coastal Communities, to support the G7 theme of “Working Together on Climate Change, Oceans and Clean Energy” from September 19 to 21, 2018, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The meeting was co-hosted by Mr. Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Ms. Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and Mr. Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Natural Resources. The G7 Ministers were joined by Ministers and representatives from Jamaica, Kenya, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Nauru, Norway, Seychelles and Viet Nam.
During the meeting, they discussed the need for collaborative partnerships with relevant stakeholders, in particular with local, indigenous, remote coastal and small islands communities, the private sector, international organizations and civil society in order to foster effective and innovative solutions to improve the health of our oceans and seas.
Ministers discussed ways to advance the priorities identified by G7 Leaders in the Charlevoix Blueprint for Healthy Oceans, Seas and Resilient Coastal Communities at the G7 Leaders’ Summit, from June 8 to 9, 2018 in Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada, in particular around: (i) Addressing marine plastic pollution through social and technological innovation; (ii) Supporting sustainable oceans and fisheries by combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; (iii) Increasing our ocean knowledge by expanding global observation efforts as well as sharing scientific data; and (iv) Supporting innovative solutions and financing to develop clean and resilient energy systems in vulnerable coastal communities.
Vice Minister Le Cong Thanh and Environment Ministers.
The outcomes of the G7 Environment, Oceans and Energy Ministers’ meeting lay the groundwork for immediate action and further collaboration expected to continue at a more global level at the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi, Kenya from November 26 to 28, 2018.
On behalf of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Mr. Le Cong Thanh, Vice Minister, and Mr. Le Ngoc Tuan, Deputy Director General, Department of International Cooperation, attended the Meeting. The participation in this Meeting would be a good opportunity for Viet Nam to reaffirm its commitment to deal with marine plastic waste problems in general, and manage plastic waste in particular, thereby attracting Canadian donors for specific projects that Viet Nam will implement in the future, as well as mobilizing countries to implement the initiatives advocated by the Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the expanded G7 Summit in Quebec, Canada on June 9, 2018.
Uyen Nguyen