The Our Oceans Conference in Malta has covered a very wide range of themes looking at the protection of the marine environment and it more effective management. Three main links:

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey is at the Our Ocean conference in Malta. Commitments on plastics & MPAs, Blue Belt. Defra ‘UK takes world stage in fight against marine plastic. Speaking in front of heads of state, ministers and NGOs from around the world, the Environment Minister pledged her support to help small island developing states with marine science, research and conservation projects – alongside setting out how the government is continuing the fight at home against the eight million tonnes of plastic that make their way into oceans each year.’

Supreme wake-up call’: Prince Charles urges action on ocean pollution

Guardian: Prince says catastrophic hurricanes are consequence of climate change and welcomes growing awareness of plastic pollution. The world’s oceans are at last receiving the attention they deserve, as the scale of plastic pollution is finally becoming clear, the Prince of Wales has said, hailing this growing awareness as the first step to saving the marine environment. Prince Charles said it had taken years for the enormity of the problem to emerge, but promised to make it a key priority of his campaigning, alongside rainforests. But he also confessed to mounting despair over how little has been achieved in his four decades of environmental campaigning, fearing we are “no longer a rational civilisation” but are driven by economic ideology.

EU to Input €550m into Health of the oceans   The Our Ocean Conference, held in Malta from 5-6 October, brings together heads of state, governments, industry and NGOs to discuss marine conservation and agree actions to protect seas and oceans around the world. At the Our Ocean conference, the EU also announced plans to devote more than €550m to protecting the health of oceans, with more than 30 initiatives including efforts to combat piracy and illegal fishing, a satellite monitoring system, and a new plastics strategy for the bloc. Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said: “The sea is a global common. We all have a responsibility to preserve it as a treasure and avoid that it turns into a threat. The EU believes that a globalised world needs a more cooperative global governance. It is impossible to imagine global governance without a cooperative oceans governance.”