UNITED NATIONS (CMC) — Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries have supported a United Nations draft resolution on sustainable fisheries, as delegates reflected on how the novel coronavirus pandemic derailed what the UN said should have been a watershed year for international action on the world’s oceans.

Acting without a vote, the UN General Assembly adopted the draft resolution “Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995 Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, and related instruments”.

By its terms, the UN said the Assembly reaffirmed the importance of the long-term conservation, management and sustainable use of living marine ocean resources and state obligations to cooperate to this end.

The UN said the Assembly urged states to increase their reliance on scientific advice in developing, adopting and implementing conservation and management measures.

In addressing the General Assembly, Belize’s representative Sharon Lindo, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), pointed to various problems — from sea-level rise to the collapse of marine biodiversity — that “imperil humanity’s collective future”.

She noted that the UN secretary general’s latest report on the oceans and the law of the sea details how the simultaneous shocks of COVID-19 and the deterioration of ocean health have affected states’ ability to ensure food security and finance national development priorities.

“This unexpected cataclysm has clarified our global priorities and sparked increased cooperation,” said Lindo, noting the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), such as those in the Caribbean.

Calling for holistic national and international efforts, the Belize diplomat said the international community must seek to mitigate future harm by building back better.

“Any truly successful approach to COVID-19 recovery must involve environmentally and scientifically informed efforts to ensure more sustainable ocean activities that will tackle climate change and the need for equitable enjoyment of ocean resources,” said Lindo, adding that SIDS are already working on the plan to build back better.

But she said they are actively engaged in negotiations for a new marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction treaty, and are also strengthening their capacities to not only implement but benefit from this treaty.

Further, Lindo said the AOSIS bloc has pushed for international focus on the impacts of climate change on oceans, “which has resulted in the inclusion of sea-level rise in the International Law Commission’s programme of work.”

Looking forward to the United Nations Ocean Conference in 2021, Lindo voiced regret about the lack of progress since the last conference in 2017.

She said only one of 10 targets from Goal 14 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on life below water has been met, calling for renewed efforts to reach all targets as soon as possible.

Pointing out that SIDS have “thousands of years of accrued traditional knowledge about the oceans, as well as capable and dedicated researchers that can contribute to innovative perspectives”, Lindo urged states to approach social, economic and environmental challenges with “innovative thinking, political drive and the spirit of cooperation”.

Barbadian diplomat Juliette Rosita Riley, speaking on behalf of Caricom and aligning with the AOSIS, noted that the impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic have been diverting attention from the conservation of sustainable use of oceans.

She said the pandemic has brought Caricom economies to “a virtual halt, with severe consequences on the tourism industry”.

Riley said the impact on the global economy, including global supply and value chains, is expected to significantly delay the achievement of SDG 14 and its related targets.

She also voiced concern about the effects of COVID-19 on seafarers in particular, stating that the destabilisation caused by the pandemic “will not compare to the devastation that will be caused by climate change, if no decisive action is taken”.

Thanking the UN secretary general for his continued efforts to put the climate crisis “front and centre of the international agenda”, Riley called for increased momentum on combating climate change through ambitious “national determined contributions and long-term climate strategies”.

Noting that the 2020 hurricane season has seen around 30 named storms leading to unprecedented flooding in the region, the Barbadian diplomat stressed that “evidence-based and proactive decision-making will be fundamental to transforming Caribbean societies from vulnerable to resilient”.

Looking forward to the convening of the Climate Ambitions Summit later this month, Riley urged states to take decisive steps to ensure that “we achieve our goal of 1.5 to stay alive”.

Voicing regret at the postponement of the Fourth Intergovernmental Conference, she called on delegates to arrive at a ground-breaking agreement that will help the international community better manage areas beyond national jurisdiction.

“It is vital that the new marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction agreement include provisions that recognise the special circumstances of Small Island Developing States, including modalities and mechanisms for effective capacity building and transfer of marine technology,” said Riley, emphasising the need to “strike the right balance between conservation and sustainable use”.

Through the 43-page text, the UN General Assembly urged states to address the impacts of global climate change and ocean acidification on coral reefs and other ecosystems relevant to fisheries.

It also called on states to combat “illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing — a major threat to fish stocks and marine ecosystems, as well as to food security and economic development in many developing states”.

The UN said the Assembly postponed action on the omnibus draft resolution “Oceans and the law of the sea” to enable its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) to review its programme budget implications.

“That text would, among other things, have the world body reaffirm the unified character of the Convention on the Law of the Sea and the vital importance of preserving its integrity,” the UN said.

In the ensuing discussion, delegates said that COVID-19 upset what should have been a “super year” for ocean issues, including the postponement of the second United Nations Ocean Conference and the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument under the Convention on the Law of the Sea, on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, the UN said.

It said both events are now expected to take place in 2021, coinciding with the start of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.