UN General Assembly
2019

As co-Chair of the High-level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, I am working with 13 other serving Heads of State to rebalance humankind’s contract with the ocean. As the Panel continues to develop its recommendations for achieving a sustainable ocean economy ahead of the 2020 United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 — conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development — to be held in Lisbon, we reiterate our invitation to industry and the private sector to join us in that effort. We also look forward to the successful conclusion of negotiations and the adoption of a new treaty on high seas biodiversity that will set the multilateral framework for us to effectively protect the high seas and complement our national efforts.