The UK Government has joined other world leaders at the UN Ocean Conference to announce new initiatives to protect the global marine environment. Defra released a news item which stated that:

‘The government’s ambitious £500 million Blue Planet Fund, launched at the G7 Leader’s Summit last year, is already supporting developing countries and vulnerable coastal communities around the world adapt to climate change and build sustainable, prosperous coastal economies.

In the latest instalment of the Fund announced today, a record £150 million will be invested in a new global programme, known as COAST, to protect and restore valuable coastal and marine habitats such as corals, mangroves and seagrasses, improve the sustainability and productivity of small-scale fisheries, and help developing countries unlock aquaculture’s potential.

Up to £100 million of Blue Planet funding will also be used to support the implementation, management and enforcement of Marine Protected Areas, which are created to limit potentially damaging activity at sea and support the recovery of key habitats and marine species, and other effective conservation measures in developing countries.

The UK government, with Canada and the US, has also launched a world-first global alliance to tackle illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing which poses a threat to ocean ecosystems, coastal communities and global fish stocks by undermining fisheries management and distorting trade.

Other UK announcements being made at the UN Ocean Conference are:

Launch of the Global Ocean Decade Programme for Blue Carbon (GO-BC): GO-BC will act under the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development to enhance collaboration on ocean science, provide a robust evidence base to protect and restore blue carbon habitats and build resilient marine ecosystems.

£6m to the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP): GOAP supports the development and maintenance of ocean natural capital accounts in developing countries. The UK will provide a further £6m to GOAP over the next three years, taking the total UK contribution to £7m.

UK announces membership of the Ocean Acidification Alliance: the UK will work with partners to increase scientific understanding of ocean acidification and explore actions that can better protect coastal communities and livelihoods across the globe from the threats it poses.’

The full press release from the UK Government can be read here.