Danny Faure Foundation hosts first international symposium |11 July 2022
(From L to R) Chip Cunliffe, Rt Hon. Patricia Scotland, Danny Faure, Johan Strid
The first international symposium organised by the Danny Faure Foundation (DFF) on the theme ‘The Health of Our Ocean’ was held on July 8, 2022 in London.
In his opening address, the founder and chairman of the DFF, former Seychelles President Danny Faure, said, “It is undisputable that ocean health equates global health. With an ever-growing body of irrefutable science and data, it is clear that we must jointly act now as there will not be a later time to solve what I believe is the existential threat of the 21st century.”
“There needs to be an urgent improvement in access to information to allow people to better understand the value of the ocean in order to identify the right mechanisms to properly conserve and sustainably develop marine resources and ecosystems,” said former President Faure.
The keynote address was delivered by The Right Honourable Patricia Scotland QC, secretary general of the Commonwealth.
In her address, the secretary general welcomed the initiative of the Foundation in organising the symposium on ‘The Health of Our Ocean’ one week after the United Nations Ocean Conference, which was held in Lisbon.
She reiterated the importance of building partnerships and of “joining hands and moving forward together that we can build a healthier, happier, more resilient, more prosperous and more beautiful blue future – for the Commonwealth, and for everyone”.
The participants at the symposium also had the opportunity to listen to two presentations by Chip Cunliffe, programmes & risk director at the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA) and Johan Strid, director of the Ocean Race Summits.
The symposium was attended by high commissioners based in the United Kingdom, scientists, philanthropists and the acting high commissioner of Seychelles to the United Kingdom, Terry Romain.
Press release from the Danny Faure Foundation
