“Preserving and sustainably using the oceans and marine resources for sustainable development are the shared responsibility of all nations,” stressed H.E. Eang Sophalleth, Cambodian Minister of Environment while presiding over the opening ceremony of the first “Blue Talks” in Cambodia on Tuesday.
Organised by the French Embassy in Phnom Penh in partnership with the French Agency for Development (AFD), the event was held in Sihanoukville, Preah Sihanouk province in preparation for the Third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) to be held in Nice, France in June 2025.
H.E. Eang Sophalleth also underscored the importance of protecting the marine environment and biodiversity, and welcomed the close cooperation from relevant partners to share knowledge and cooperation in maritime health care.
Moreover, he mentioned about the ocean pollution due to plastic waste, and laid stress on Cambodia’s active contribution to reducing plastic waste, affirming that the Kingdom has reduced the plastic consumption by 74.1 percent in the past 11 months.
The UN statistics show that by 2050, the plastic population will exceed the number of fishes in the ocean.
According to French Embassy, the first “Blue Talks” in Cambodia aimed to mobilise all stakeholders to create favorable conditions for international negotiations and establish a network of stakeholders in Cambodia to develop new projects dedicated to the oceans. The ultimate objective is to raise the level of ambition and collectively increase the efforts to protect the oceans by June 2025.
H.E. Jacques Pellet, Ambassador of France to Cambodia, H.E. Long Dimanche, Deputy Governor of Preah Sihanouk province, and Mr. Jean-Pierre Marcelli, AFD Regional Director for Southeast Asia, as well as representatives of different ministries, NGOs, EU Delegation to Cambodia, UN agencies and private sector also joined H.E. Minister of Environment in exchanging views on issues of blue economy, ecotourism, maritime trade and responsible agriculture.
