Global Oceans Summit Raises $10 Billion in pledges:Greek Prime Minister April 17, 2024

This year's "Our Oceans" summit is being held in Greece (ERNESTO BENAVIDES)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

An international summit to save the oceans has raised $10 billion in pledges, the prime minister of host country Greece said on Tuesday.

The "Our Oceans" summit was launched in 2014 as the first international event of its kind to address all issues related to the oceans, with some 122.3 billion euros pledged since then to protect them.

This year's three-day conference kicked off on Monday with delegates from around 120 countries.

"We are encouraged by the commitments that have been made during this meeting - more than 400 pledges exceeding the value of 10 billion dollars," said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday.

"Our ocean is sending us distress signals. Of course, long before we understood climate change, the ocean was already under attack from overexploitation and pollution."

At last year's conference in Panama, participants pledged $19 billion for projects on sustainable fishing, pollution, maritime safety, and protected areas.

The European Union also announced last year that it would allocate 816.5 million euros to ocean-related projects.

"Concrete initiatives are urgently needed on all major issues, such as climate change, marine protected areas, sustainable fisheries, sustainable blue economy, maritime safety, and marine pollution," said Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis in his speech on Tuesday.

This year's summit will highlight issues of sustainable tourism in coastal and island regions, green maritime transportation, the reduction of plastics and microplastics, and the green transition of the Mediterranean, Gerapetritis said.

In Greece, 21 initiatives with a budget of 780 million euros are underway as part of a structured strategy for the protection of Greek marine biodiversity.

The government also announced last week the creation of two new national parks, one in the Ionian Sea for marine mammals and turtles, and another in the Aegean Sea for seabirds.

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