PACIFIC governments are being urged to strengthen ocean protection and stewardship amid growing pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss, and marine pollution. Vanuatu’s Minister for Climate Change Adaptation, Ralph Regenvanu, said oceans are increasingly central to global and regional survival, not only environmentally but also politically and economically.
He welcomed the recent entry into force of the Convention on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions (BBNJ), calling it a significant milestone in global ocean governance since the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was adopted in the 1980s.
