5th GLOBAL OCEANS CONFERENCE

Ensuring Survival, Preserving Life, Improving Governanceorganized by the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands

Oceans, Climate, Biodiversity: From Copenhagen 2009 to Nagoya 2010

May 3–7, 2010,

UNESCO, Paris, France

Conference materials:

• Policy Briefs:

  Ensuring Survival : Policy Brief on Oceans and Climate Change

  Improving Governance : Policy Brief on Improving Governance

  Preserving Life : Policy Brief on Biodiversity

• Video interviews on the key themes of the conference
• Leaflet of the Conference

The Global Oceans Conferences provided a major opportunity for all sectors of the Global Oceans Community - governments, international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, industries, and scientific groups - to address major policy issues affecting the oceans at global, regional, and national levels and to make progress in advancing the global oceans agenda.

The 5^th Global Oceans Conference has been be hosted by the government of France and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic commission, UNESCO.

The Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands

The World Ocean Network is part of Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands.

The Global Forum was first mobilized in 2001 to  help the world’s governments place issues related to oceans, coasts, and SIDS on the agenda of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa (the ten-year review of progress achieved in the implementation of the outcomes of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro), and was later formalized at the 2002 World Summit.

In the preparatory process for the WSSD, it became evident that ocean issues were not on the World Summit agenda. Hence, the Global Forum was mobilized to hold the first Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands (in December 2001 at UNESCO, Paris) to lay the groundwork for the inclusion of an oceans perspective at the WSSD by calling attention to the economic and social importance of oceans, coasts, and Small Island Developing States and the serious problems besetting these areas. These efforts were successful in assisting governments in putting oceans on the WSSD agenda.
At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2002, Government delegates agreed on an action plan for oceans, coasts and islands, with specific targets and timetables for action, to address the problems and threats, to sustainable development noted above. The ocean targets and timetables found in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation represent an important advance because there is now a global consensus reached at the highest political levels that there is an urgent need to take specific actions to achieve the sustainable development of oceans, coasts and of Small Island Developing States.

Since 2002, Philippe VALLETTE, co-président of the World Ocean Network and NAUSICAA managing director, is a member of the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands steering committee. He is part of the group which is responsible for raising public awarness for the marine environment.

For further information on the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands:

- Visit the official website

- Contact the Global Forum