UN General Assembly
2020

Palau is a large ocean state, and we are acting in accordance with our responsibilities for stewardship over our EEZ. But the ocean covers the majority of our planet’s surface. We hope that Palau’s actions will inspire ambition elsewhere. We are all ocean people, even if we do not live near coasts. All of humanity depends on the ocean for food, for climate regulation, for trade, for security, and for so much more. The High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, which I co-chair, has been building a blueprint for this ocean ambition. While the Panel’s work has been underway long prior to the pandemic, its analysis highlights how investments in key ocean economy sectors provide a way to “build back bluer” from the pandemic, with benefits for jobs, the environment, and human health. These include protecting coastal and marine ecosystems such as mangroves; investing in sewage and wastewater infrastructure for coastal communities, and in zero emission marine transport.