PRESS RELEASE
PR-067-2022
(2 December 2022, Singapore) Philippine Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo, during the 2nd World Ocean Summit Asia-Pacific held in Singapore on 29-30 November 2022, called for the “forging of ever closer and more effective partnerships” in the region to ensure that “our oceans remain zones of peace and prosperity, for the benefit of present and future generations”.
In his pre-recorded message at the keynote panel on “A call to action— Putting Asia-Pacific at the center of the global ocean conversation”, Secretary Manalo affirmed that for a maritime nation like the Philippines, the oceans – how they are governed and how the resources therein are managed – will always be of primary importance. He also highlighted that the Marcos administration’s priorities towards the vision of a stable and secure future for all Filipinos, which include, food and energy security, climate change mitigation and adaptation, regional and global peace, are all inextricably linked to the maritime space.
Secretary Manalo also outlined the Philippine Government’s key efforts on environmental and marine protection, ocean governance and sustainable development. Among these are taking consistent and concrete action against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; pursuing innovations on sustainable aquaculture; enhancing maritime transport in view of the Philippines’ status as the largest provider of the global seafaring workforce and the fourth-largest shipbuilder in the world; adopting a National Plan of Action for the prevention, reduction, and management of Marine Litter to achieve “zero waste in Philippine waters by 2040”; and recently passing a legislation introducing extended producer responsibility on plastic packaging waste.
The closing panel, moderated by Mr. Charles Goddard, Editorial Director of the Economist, which organized the two-day Summit, brought together ocean leaders for a discussion on the most critical take-aways from the Summit and reflections on how to ensure that the Asia-Pacific region remains at the heart of the global ocean conversation. The panelists were Mr. Kilaparti Ramakrishna, Director of the Marine Policy Center and Senior Advisor to the President on Ocean and Climate Policy, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Ms. Shereen Zorba, Head of the United Nations Environment Programme Science Policy Business Forum; and Ms. Minako Iue, Chief Executive and Chair, Sailors for Sea, Japan.
The World Ocean Summit is an annual global event which brings together the widest cross-section of the ocean community from business and finance to governments, national and international policy-makers, civil society and academia.
Following the success of the 1st World Ocean Summit Asia Pacific in 2021, the 2nd World Ocean Summit Asia Pacific was held as a hybrid event and covered sustainable ocean economy with sessions on governance, climate change, finance, supply chains, innovation and technology, shipping, tourism, fishing and aquaculture. A key theme of the Summit was marine pollution and addressing the problem of plastics and chemicals in the ocean. Other key speakers included H.E. Surangel S. Whipps, Jr., President of Palau, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Peter Thomson, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean and Hoesung Lee, Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The 10th Annual World Ocean Summit and Expo, with the theme, “Inspiring Oceans Solutions” will be held on 27 February to 1 March 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal (END).
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