Solomon Islands to translate UN Oceans Conference Commitments into Action
By Fredrick Kusu
In Nice, France
As the third UN Oceans conference concluded in Nice, France, the Solomon Islands has announced its commitment to implement the agreements and treaties it acceded to at the conference.
Joining other member states, the Solomon Islands has announced a moratorium on deep sea mining.
The Pacific Island nation also announced a commitment to protect key blue ecosystems.
It ratified the Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement and announced new marine protected areas and reaffirmed its commitments to negotiate a plastic treaty.
The Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele told SIBC News that the country has done its part to incorporate these international agreements into domestic legislations.
The need now is to build the local capacity to implement these global commitments.
“There is an ongoing need for capacity to implement these international treaties and commitments.
“First of all is to domesticate them and we have done that…The other area that we will need help on is reporting.”
Manele explained the country’s capacity in reporting the progress of implementing the international agreements and treaties aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 is what is important.
Prime Minister Hon. Jeremiah Manele delivering Solomon Islands’ statement at the 2nd plenary meeting of UNOC3
The Oceans conference has concluded with the adoption of the Nice Commitments for the ocean.
These commitments by 175 UN member states agreed for equitable governance based on law and justice to strengthen efforts for the health of the ocean.
Fund, develop and disseminate knowledge of the ocean for the benefit of stakeholders, mobilize funding and develop a sustainable economy that will benefit everyone.
The members also committed to combat all forms of pollution and to work together at the level of geographical areas or oceans basins.
Commenting on the outcome of the conference, the Solomon Islands Prime Minister said that what is common to Small Islands Developing States is access to resources to scale up efforts on meeting the SDG 14 targets by 2030.
“So going back home, through the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources as well as the Ministry of Environment, there is a need for greater collaboration among these ministries.
“We have an Oceans policy where 12 ministries are responsible for its implementation. So these 12 ministries will need to work together to scale up actions on the outcome of the conference,” Manele said.
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This story was produced as part of the 2025 UNOC Fellowship organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.