The latest news and events from the Blue Charter
11 May 2020
Commonwealth countries committed to saving the ocean will benefit from new knowledge gained from the Seychelles, which has just designated almost a third of its ocean as marine protected areas (MPAs). The island nation recently set aside 30 per cent of its marine territory, or about 410,000 square kilometres, to be legally protected from activities…
21 April 2020
Commonwealth countries have outlined a joint plan to boost economic growth and food security through the sustainable farming of fish, shellfish and aquatic plants. Aquaculture generates more than half of the seafood people eat across the world, and sustains some 26 million jobs. This translates to about 80 million tonnes of fish produced globally per…
25 February 2020
On 4 March 2020, the Commonwealth and the Nekton Foundation will launch ‘First Descent: Midnight Zone’, a mission to explore and protect the Indian Ocean – the world’s least explored and most at risk ocean. First Descent First Descent is a ground-breaking scientific research mission, using the world’s most advanced deep diving submersible. The goal…
11 February 2020
Countries driving the Commonwealth Blue Charter project will meet in Cyprus from 21 to 24 March 2020. They will reflect on what they’ve achieved over the past year, and agree on a strategy for the coming year. The Commonwealth Blue Charter is a landmark agreement by leaders to cooperate on ocean action. Since launching in 2018, 10 action groups led…
12 December 2019
The Pacific Island nation of Kiribati has stepped forward to lead an action group on sustainable coastal fisheries, as part of the Commonwealth Blue Charter. The action group will rally countries together to share knowledge and best practices, align actions on sustainable fisheries and mobilise funding to support their joint initiatives. Making the announcement at…
26 November 2019
Commonwealth countries are joining forces to improve how they protect the ocean, as part of the voluntary actions being rolled out under the ground-breaking Commonwealth Blue Charter. The Blue Charter is an agreement by all 53 member countries to actively cooperate to protect ocean health and promote good ocean governance, with nine action groups to…
08 November 2019
Secretary-General Patricia Scotland celebrated new in-roads made by Sri Lanka, chair of the Commonwealth’s Blue Charter Action Group on mangroves, by planting a mangrove plant in the country’s famous Koggala Lagoon. The area is home to 10 out of the 22 true mangrove species found in Sri Lanka, and the site of extensive mangrove restoration efforts involving local communities, businesses and the government. With about a quarter of the population living…
25 October 2019
The Commonwealth is working to establish a fund to help member countries take practical action on ocean sustainability. Ministers leading Commonwealth Blue Charter action groups met in Oslo with marine experts, investors and philanthropists to discuss the shape of the proposed fund. The meeting took place during the Our Ocean Conference, to build partnerships between government, industry, science and…
The Commonwealth Blue Charter – Shared Values, Shared Ocean. A Commonwealth commitment to work together to protect and manage our ocean.
