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17:39, 03-Oct-2017
EU to commit 1 billion US dollars to protect marine life
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During the global Our Ocean conference this week, the European Union and its private sector announced it will commit roughly one billion euros (1.18 billions US dollars) towards better protecting marine life.
However, EU Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella told the Associated Press that figure -which comes from from the EU, its 28 member states and the private sector - could be a conservative estimate, saying “it might be even a bit over.”
The Our Ocean conference has turned into an annual marine governance event and has accumulated some 8.7 billion euros (10.2 billion US dollars) since it started in 2014. Vella said “we are keeping up the pace with the previous three conferences.”
The European Union will commit about one billion euros to better protect marine life during the global Our Ocean conference in the coming week in Malta. /AP Photo
The European Union will commit about one billion euros to better protect marine life during the global Our Ocean conference in the coming week in Malta. /AP Photo
Vella is also looking for donations from the United States. Many private companies contribute to the two-day event, which starts Thursday in Malta.
Two of its previous annual meetings have been held in the United States, with then Secretary of State John Kerry taking a special interest in it. It’s not clear to what extent US President Donald Trump’s Republican administration will be committed to Our Ocean’s environmental cause.
Vella remained upbeat, saying “so far, the United States is still on board, very much on board.”
“The US will be coming round to Malta with commitments as well,” he said. “The only question is the amount of support they will be giving.”
The conference focuses on funding and leading projects as varied at combating plastics pollution to countering illegal fishing and looking at the effects of climate change.
Its mission is urgent, Vella said, pointing to the rapid decay of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
“Scientists were thinking that they would start feeling the negative impact of climate change and temperatures rising by 2050,” Vella said. “We are still even before 2020 and we have already declared the Great Barrier Reef dead. So things are moving faster than we were hoping.”
Source(s): AP