Co-facilitators,

I align myself with the statements made on behalf of G77 and China, AOSIS, the Pacific Islands Forum and the Pacific SIDS. In our first intervention on the outcome document, we will try to relate our ideas to the guiding questions you have asked and will use subsequent interventions to flesh some out in more detail as well as react to ideas presented by others. In particular, we will focus right now on your first and last questions.

Your first question, on what are areas of action that could be reflected in the political declaration, I would shadow the point made by the Pacific Islands Forum, that we need mapping of the ocean, observations, ecosystem knowledge, data and information work, modeling and prediction, disaster risk reduction, ocean literacy and education among others. Those could be reflected.

Those areas of action help inform us on the state of the Ocean vis-à-vis climate change and related phenomena such as Ocean acidification. They would also help us in combating IUU fishing through the development of smart systems at low cost, including in partnership with universities and research institutions that can develop such systems. And they should inform us on how far we have progressed in implementing the goals and targets of SDG14, including the ones that mature in 2020. Finally, those areas would interact with the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples and local communities, which we envision as informing and reinforcing such areas.

On the question of what are the main challenges, for SIDS the response is limited resources. In the Pacific we have always seen ourselves as the custodians of the Ocean and we are proud of our role. In a time when maritime activities have multiplied, we can only continue in our role as custodians if we have the benefit of capacity building, technology transfer and the application of new approaches that help us do things smarter. But of course we cannot do it by ourselves and the need to cooperate will only increase.

I thank you.