Oceans are the quintessential sustainable development issue, essential to all three pillars of sustainable development ― economic development, social development and environmental protection. Oceans provide critical social, economic and nutritional benefits, providing billions of people with nutrition and livelihood, and underpin the global economy. Just as one cannot do without a healthy heart, the world cannot do without a healthy ocean.

This is an important year for oceans. The momentous Rio+20 Conference was convened earlier this year in Brazil, on the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. This year we also celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, often called the “constitution of the ocean,” as well as the International Exposition Yeosu Korea 2012.

Advancing sustainable development paradigm

In 1992, the Rio Earth Summit put forth a new vision of sustainable development, which represented a major global paradigm shift. Twenty years after the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, leaders from all sectors of the global community (including 44,000 participants from 191 countries, and 79 heads of state) gathered in Rio de Janeiro at the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development (or the “Rio+20 Conference”) to follow up on major commitments and advance sustainable development in the context of new and emerging opportunities and challenges.

The Rio+20 Conference hosted negotiations and more than 3,500 related events on issues related to sustainable development, including energy, green job growth, conservation and other issues. Five hundred billion dollars was pledged toward sustainable development and over 700 commitments for sustainable development initiatives were made by governments, intergovernmental organizations and civil society.

Oceans took center stage at Rio+20, and there was strong consensus among governments and civil society on the need for urgent action on ocean and coastal issues. We witnessed the release of robust analytical policy reports on oceans, including the “Oceans at Rio+20” report, produced by the Global Ocean Forum with contributions from ocean experts from around the world, and the U.N. inter-agency report, “A Blueprint for Ocean and Coastal Sustainability.” Futhermore, multi-stakeholder events on oceans, including The Oceans Day at Rio+20 (which was attended by 375 participants from 46 countries and produced the Rio Ocean Declaration), served as important platforms for raising awareness and articulating major ocean-related priorities.

The conference focused significant attention on ocean issues and took some positive steps forward, including decisions on the institutional framework for sustainable development, a new target for reducing marine debris, and a decision on the development of a new instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (a topic that has been under heavy discussion in various United Nations fora).

Thanks to the efforts of the global ocean community in the Rio+20 process, oceans and their role in planetary survival and human well-being are now firmly on the global agenda.

Yeosu Declaration promotes new vision

Moving from the Rio+20 Conference to the International Exposition Yeosu Expo 2012 Korea, we now look to the vision of a sustainable future for the oceans highlighted at the Yeosu Expo.

Following in the spirit of past expositions in showcasing a hopeful vision for the future of humanity, the Yeosu Expo puts forth a vision of a prosperous global community living in harmony with the ocean through innovative approaches to conservation and sustainable use. The Yeosu Declaration is an important legacy of the Expo and aims to mobilize the global ocean community to make the vision of the Expo a reality.

As the Expo comes to a close on Aug. 12, it will host the Yeosu Declaration Forum, a high-level event as the culmination of the two-year-long process of crafting the Yeosu Declaration, which outlines the vision of the ocean as a new engine of sustainable economic growth, combined with sustainable management and stewardship of ocean resources.

This provides a great opportunity to build on the political momentum of Rio+20 with the heightened awareness of the general public, illustrated by the more than 7 million people who have visited the Yeosu Expo so far.

The Yeosu Declaration, which was crafted with the collaboration of over 50 leading ocean experts from around the world, is an important legacy of the Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea and aims to advance a new vision of “green growth from the sea,” providing for sustainable economic growth and development, while preserving ocean resources for future generations. The declaration seeks to ignite political will and public awareness on the importance of our ocean and to the survival and well-being of future generations. It aims to catalyze tangible action for the protection of marine ecosystems and the use of innovative and environmentally friendly technologies to realize the many opportunities of the ocean and better manage ocean resources. It also seeks to mobilize support for all nations to share in the vision of “green growth from the sea” through capacity development initiatives such as the Yeosu Project, a new initiative supporting capacity-related pilot projects around the world.

The Yeosu Declaration Forum will focus on tangible measures to implement the spirit of the declaration. It will feature high-level addresses from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik of Korea, and Prime Minister Willy Telavi of Tuvalu, and will be attended by more than 800 participants from various sectors. By providing a venue for high-level ocean leaders to voice their support for the declaration and outline measures to translate it into action, the forum is a valuable means to bring the Yeosu Declaration to life.

The Yeosu Expo and Declaration represent an important opportunity for the global community to come together and voice its collective support for the ocean. The survival and prosperity of the planet depend on the oceans, so we all have a duty to protect it and use it responsibly. The future of our civilization may very well rest in the waves of the sea, and we must ensure that both current and future generations can share in the wealth of benefits provided by a healthy ocean.

By Biliana Cicin-Sain

Dr. Biliana Cicin-Sain, who received a Ph.D in political science from UCLA and postdoctoral training from Harvard University, is the director of the Gerard J. Mangone Center for Marine Policy and Professor of Marine Policy at the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment. ― Ed.

(President of Global Ocean Forum)