Foreign Minister Manele welcome the update but reiterate that for Solomon Islands, accessing finance to support Ocean projects, programmes and initiatives in order to promote, protect and conserve our ocean resources is very challenging. There are huge commitments worth billions of dollars made but accessing them is extremely hard.
The criteria set by development partners and organizations although with good intentions makes it difficult for Small Island Developing States like Solomon Islands to access. Such obstacle makes it hard to implement the policies and programmes that countries have.
For Solomon Islands, the National Ocean Policy which was launched in 2019 by His Royal Highest, Prince Charles provided the governance framework and guide to address the issues and challenges faced by Our Oceans so getting the finance and support in the implementation of the National Oceans Policy is important.
Minister Manele thanked the government and people of Portugal for co-hosting the UNOC with Kenya and stressed the importance of the Oceans for Solomon Islands. As a large Ocean State in the Blue Pacific Ocean, “the Ocean defines who we are as people and nation. It is a key pillar of our development, and the foundation of our future. The health of our ocean is crucial to the wellbeing of our people and planet, and all forms of life below and above water”.
Minister Manele further acknowledge the support provided by Portugal to Solomon Islands through the European Union (EU) and further call on Portugal to support Solomon Islands through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to address Ocean and Climate Change issues. The Portugese Foreign Minister assured Minister Manele that Portugal looks forward to working with Solomon Islands at the bilateral and multilateral levels to support Ocean projects and programmes.
-GCU
