Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

First of all, let me congratulate The Economist for hosting the World Ocean Summit once again. Ocean related issues have long been very close to my heart.

This Conference is centered upon two topics which are critical to the future of many countries, including my own, Portugal.

The interlinks between these two issues – ocean sustainability and governance - are multiple and obvious. It is because there is a lack of sustainability in the way we currently explore our oceans and seas that we need to discuss ocean governance.

Without fearing for the ocean capacity to regenerate, we would not feel compelled to change our ways and come up with solutions which demand a new ocean governance.

How should we move forward?

How can we properly join the dots between governance and sustainability?

For many centuries Humanity did not even think about creating a governance for the oceans. On the one hand, the use of the sea was scarce while, on the other, the oceans appeared so vast and unknown, that nothing would seem to possibly disturb them.

This status quo, however, has dramatically changed with the proliferation of ocean uses.

First, with regard to maritime transport and fishing activities. Today, in multiple diverse ways, including using the oceans to extract natural resources, or as the main highway to international trade and even as a deposit for litter.

Gradually, with all the ocean uses and with the scientific knowledge we gathered, we are becoming aware that the oceans are a key strategic asset of the planet we live in.

They are critical to the very functioning of the planet, with the ecosystem services they provide, such as climate regulation and oxygen production, or for recycling polluting gases, including CO2. In this context, I am happy that a Portuguese organization, the Gulbenkian Foundation, inspired by TEEB (the UNEP Program on the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity), has just launched an Ocean International Initiative focusing on the economic value of marine ecosystems and biodiversity.

The oceans are also critical for our economies and societies, as our future will be more linked with the sea than ever before:

- Demographic growth requires food security and this calls for the supply of new sources of protein, including seafood.

- Globalization requires mobility for a growing international trade and this asks for maritime transports, mega container vessels, new waterways, new port terminals, more shipbuilding.

- Energy demand will continue to grow and this will mean an extensive use of the sea as a source of fossil fuels, as well as of other forms of energy like renewable energy.

Humans will literally be moving onto the sea. Some people already consider the sea as the new frontier for human development.

Meanwhile, before all that happens, we have to take into account that a large part of humanity already lives on coastal areas, as we continue to build and expand our cities by the sea. Human neighboring with the sea should be a key factor in our global ocean discussions.

It is hard to ignore that 80 per cent of all marine pollution is land-based pollution. Even more disturbing, 80 per cent of that pollution is today made of plastics.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Business and the blue economy are crucial for societies and for economic growth in many coastal States. Portugal is well aware of this and is making the right changes in order to promote blue growth.

However, the urgency, today, at the global level, is preserving ocean sustainability.

Do we realize how close to the edge we are?

If we do, how can we act together to avoid what is happening and, even more, to prevent in due time what will be coming?

The odds are against us, for we tend to better protect what we are able to see. And, of course, the seabed is not as visible as our forests.

Still, we know about overfishing and fishing destructive practices.

We know about pollution and eutrophication.

We know about the destruction of marine and coastal habitats and the deterioration of marine ecosystem services.

We know about ocean acidification and we witness the negative impacts of climate change on oceans and coastal areas.

We know that red lines risk being overtaken if we do not stop the negative effects of all human activities impacting the seas and the oceans.

Should we allow the crossing over of those red lines and we will not be able to explain to future generations, that… we knew, but still did not act.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We need to act.

This is why we are here today discussing ocean governance.

But what do we envisage with it?

Making it simple, a new ocean governance should prevent the development of ocean uses and blue growth from leading to marine environmental degradation.

How should such a new governance be developed?

First of all, we need to take a holistic approach to the oceans and the seas. We need to look at the full picture, in order to understanding the cumulative impacts of all maritime activities and being able to design the appropriate policy actions.

Secondly, we need to look at the oceans through a bottom-up perspective, starting from the preservation of their ecosystems. Not the other way around, as we continue to do today, whereby we look at the oceans top-down, through the fragmented, anthropocentric perspective of our human activities: fishing, maritime transportation, or tourism.

Thirdly, we need to invest more on Knowledge. Only through science we will better understand the functioning and resilience of marine ecosystems and determine the appropriate limits to our maritime activities.

This would be the way to identify the famous red lines, which are the boundaries to marine ecosystem preservation, as well as to its capacity to regenerate.

We should decide on a set of standard environmental indicators, that should be easy to verify, and set up the oceanic monitoring tools that are not in place yet. By doing so, we will be able to come up, at the global level, with a definition of what is the good environmental status of our oceans and seas. Such a definition would allow us to set limits to the ocean uses.

We will then be forced to give priority to those uses of the sea which are more sustainable, because they give rise to lesser impacts on marine ecosystems.

Fourthly, we should bear in mind that ocean governance would require much more coordination and integration across policy sectors.

Separate public policies for fisheries, for shipping or for environmental conservation ought to be replaced by new integrated maritime policies.

Finally, an effective ocean governance demands accountability of ocean users, and means for the surveillance and control of ocean activities, not just in areas under the jurisdiction of coastal states, but also in the high seas and in the Area, as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The question now is: do we have the international institutional framework in place to make all of this happen? I am afraid not.

There is UNCLOS, an almost universal international legal instrument. There is a number of dedicated UN forums and I am looking forward to the 1st World Ocean Assessment at the end of this year.

At the regional level, several alliances and initiatives do exist, such as the Alliance of Small Island States.

In recent years the European Union has truly awaken to its key maritime dimension, with the adoption of its Integrated Maritime Policy.

Portugal has been a proactive member behind the creation and development of this new European policy.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to add a few words about Portugal.

My country is a world maritime giant, given the vast size of its maritime areas under national jurisdiction. With one of the largest Economic Exclusive Zones and Continental Shelves of the European Union and of the world as well, Portugal has a privileged location at the crossroads between three continents (Europe, Africa and the Americas).

It sits at the center of the western hemisphere shipping lanes, between the North and South Atlantic basins, and is closer to the Canal of Panama than any other European Country.

Portugal holds a rich marine biodiversity and enjoys the confluence of warm and cold sea waters coming from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, sea mounts and hydrothermal vents.

Such an overwhelming maritime geography explains Portugal’s international leading role on ocean affairs and our willingness to cooperate on this agenda with likeminded nations.

Under the leadership of the Minister for Agriculture and Maritime Affairs (present here today), the Government of Portugal has adopted a new National Strategy for the Sea, aiming at developing sustainable blue growth, while the Parliament has just approved a pioneering Framework Ocean Act, dealing with maritime spatial planning and licensing of the ocean uses.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me be clear: what I have just told you about ocean governance is easier said than done.

We have been discussing the threats and the solutions for our oceans’ problems for at least 25 years, since the Rio Summit and Agenda 21 in 1992. And still, the international community has so far failed to act together on an effective answer to our key ocean challenges.

I am, nevertheless, optimistic. I trust that we will be able to come up with a global ocean action, not least because we do not have a Planet B.

Failing is not an option. We cannot delay action anymore. We need to put a much looked-after new integrated ocean governance finally into practice. That means, in other words, adopting a New Deal for the Oceans.

Thank you all for your attention.