Supreme Council for Environment attends ‘Our Ocean’ summit

Manama : Supreme Council for Environment Deputy President Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid Al Khalifa attended the 3rd “Our Ocean” conference in Washington DC on September 15-16. 

The “Our Ocean” summit, which focuses on protecting the planet’s oceans, was hosted by US Secretary of State John Kerry, with remarks delivered by US President Barack Obama.

The conference focused on the key ocean issues including marine protected areas, sustainable fisheries, marine pollution, and climate-related impacts on the ocean. 

At the conference, President Obama formally announced the creation of a new marine reserve in the Atlantic Ocean as a national monument, banning commercial fishing in the area by 2023. 

Attendance to the conference strengthens current efforts towards the existing United States-Bahrain Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Environmental Cooperation, which accompanies the United States-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (FTA). 

This will increase cooperation with the US to protect coastal environmental zones and prevent over exploitation of marine resources through regional workshops, research and data collaboration and international and regional initiatives.

The first “Our Ocean” summit was held in Washington in 2014, followed by Valparaiso in Chile last year. Next year’s meeting will be hosted by the European Union.