The eighth Our Ocean world conference closed with 341 commitment agreements for an estimated amount of $19.978 million to safeguard the oceans.The totality of agreements was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama, Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, who thanked the support of the participants and the Panamanian Government, NGOs and the private sector, to the conference.”And I want to thank you especially because we have reached 341 new commitments, and the amount as a result is 19.978 million dollars” in commitment agreements for actions that contribute to managing the sustainability of the oceans. Panama is “pleased to be fulfilling (…) the mission of uniting the world to save the oceans,” said the foreign minister, who also thanked the youth “for being part of this special moment for Panama (…) and for the oceans”.”Panama’s geopolitics is based on the oceans and we divided our country to unify the oceans, so that the world could benefit,” said the head of the Foreign Relations portfolio, who wished “the best” for the Government of Greece, which will organize the next conference.”We hope you have a successful Our Ocean and we are committed to sharing all the knowledge, sharing all the challenges, and we will be very happy to go there to do it, thank you very much,” said the chancellor.

The participating delegations dedicated the two days of sessions to agree on various actions aimed at protecting the oceans from marine pollution, the climate crisis and acidification, among other threats, in order to guarantee responsible management of marine resources, as well as growth sustainable economic.Protected marine areas, marine security, blue economy, sustainable fishing, climate change, and marine pollution, were the six lines of action on which this eighth conference was focused.This series of conferences was initiated in 2014 by the now special presidential envoy of the United States for climate, John Kerry, one of the attendees of this eighth session and who this Friday also participated in its closure, as did Petros Varelidis, Secretary General of Environment and Water of the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Greece, venue of the next conference.Around 200 NGOs attended the meeting in Panama, according to data from MarViva, a foundation created in 2002 with a presence in Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia, very active in promoting the comprehensive management of space and marine resources, in the fight plastic pollution and shark protection, among others.
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