Malta proposes UN panel on ocean governance

Malta is proposing that the General Assembly requests the United Nations Secretary-General to consider the establishment of a framework to coordinate the work on ocean governance being undertaken both within and outside the United Nations system.

The Prime Minister made the proposal during his key note address on Monday entitled, ‘Protecting our Oceans for Present and Future Generations’, during a symposium organised by The Nippon Foundation in Tokyo, Japan.

Muscat said the new framework will make recommendations to provide options to the General Assembly on the formulation of a global strategy to ensure that all problems of ocean space are considered as a whole, in the spirit of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 

“I hope that our initiative will receive widespread support to ensure its implementation in the interest of present and future generations. Our oceans need our protection as much as humanity needs them for their survival”, Muscat said.

The Prime Minister said that the growing international illegal and corrupt trade in human trafficking and irregular migration at sea was of immediate concern to Malta. 

“In the face of this crisis, the international community has to act fast in establishing a sustainable and effective ocean governance which can deal with these serious threats… I would suggest that this approach should also apply to ocean governance”, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said. 

The Prime Minister also reiterated that the Government of Malta is committed to protecting the oceans and developing its blue economy. He said that the Government has registered a voluntary commitment of 30% of sea areas falling under Maltese jurisdiction as marine protected areas. He added that Malta continues to witness a healthy growth in the number of ships registered under the Maltese flag.