President James Michel at the Blue Guardians Commitment to Action |30 September 2015

‘Understanding the ocean key to sustainable development’

“We need to understand and have a dialogue with the ocean to be able to have sustainable development,” President James Michel has said.

The President was speaking during the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) special session on ‘Sustainable Oceans’ on Monday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly’s general debate.

Mr Michel was joined on the discussion panel by Ted Danson, actor and member of the board of directors of Oceana Inc.; American oceanographer Sylvia Earle, founder and chairman of The Sylvia Earle Alliance; and Maria José González, executive director of the Mesoamerican Reef Fund.

Vice media chief executive and co-founder Shane Smith moderated the discussion panel after former United States of America President Bill Clinton had delivered his opening remarks for the meeting held at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers in New York City.

In announcing The Blue Guardians Commitment to Action, President Bill Clinton mentioned President Michel as an example of leaders helping to ensure resilient and sustainable oceans by protecting large areas of it.

The annual CGI meetings bring together heads of state, leading chief executives, philanthropists, and members of the media to ease discussion and forward-thinking initiatives that challenge the way we impact the future.

“Climate change is hurting the sea which is the lifeblood of our Blue Planet,” said President Michel inside a packed room.

In relation to what needs to be done at national level to ensure sustainable oceans, he noted that “nothing works, nothing will succeed, without ownership”.

On a global scale, the President called for “increased sustainable ocean governance” to “determine the future of the earth by saving the ocean”.

He described the Seychelles debt swap as “swapping debt relief for ocean resilience” and also called for more education about the oceans from an early age to increase awareness of the threats and challenges oceans face.

In his closing remarks at the end of the panel session, Mr Michel called for humans “to have a dialogue with the oceans” to better understand the oceans and know better what can be sustainably used from the oceans and what should be left alone.

Speaking after the event, President Michel said: “Seychelles has committed itself to be a Blue Economy pioneer.  We have committed to empowering ourselves as Blue Guardians to not only empower island states, but to offer a new avenue for sustainable development and fighting climate change. And we know that many others share our aspirations. We stand ready to act as guardians -- and as channels for all those countries and organisations who want to make a real and immediate difference in our oceans health – of our planet's well-being. It begins with us all.”

Blue Guardians is a partnership established by the governments of the Small Island Developing States (Sids) through SIDS DOCK, a renewable energy initiative that connects the energy sector in Sids with the global market for finance. The partnership includes leading private sector technology and data providers, including DigitalGlobe, a leading global provider of commercial high-resolution earth observation and advanced geospatial solutions; the Clinton Climate Initiative, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation; multi-lateral development organisations, including the World Bank; and conservation non-governmental organisations such as Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, and GRID-Arendal.

This international consortium of public and private organisations aims to develop sustainable island economies while increasing resilience to climate change by supporting coastal communities, marine and fisheries conservation, and clean renewable energy.

Meanwhile President Michel as well as other heads of State attending the General Assembly where hosted on Monday evening by the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, to a reception at the New York Palace Hotel in New York.

The reception underscored a central tenet of Mr Obama’s address to the General Assembly on Monday, which is primarily to use diplomacy as a conduit to strengthen international cooperation in the pursuit of peace.

After the event, President Michel remarked that it was an excellent occasion to engage in a less formal manner with the heads of the international community allowing for a more targeted manner with which to achieve resolute action on pertinent issues, most notably the eradication of hunger, climate change and global peace. 

Gerard Govinden in New York