Welcome, Nairobi Convention Member States, partners, and friends, to this installment of the Weekly News Round-up! Please keep reading to find out what’s new in efforts to protect, conserve and develop the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region.
We look forward to continuing our work with you to create a prosperous WIO region with healthy rivers, coasts, and oceans.
News:
Fisheries Management: A Possible Venue for Navigating Fisheries Conflicts in the Indian Ocean
A significant increase in fisheries-related conflicts in the Indian Ocean since 2000 is heightening regional tensions. These conflicts have ranged from purely verbal and diplomatic disputes to armed attacks on fishing vessels by coast guards and navies. These disputes are most often low-intensity, but constitute true “wild card” scenarios in which competing powers’ navies reach the brink of engagement due to the actions of third parties that they neither command nor control.…Read more
Bamako Convention: Time for Africa to move from decisions to action on hazardous waste
Parties to the Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa are coming together for the third Conference of the Parties (COP-3) to the Convention. The Conference runs from 12 February to 14 February 2020 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo under the theme: From Decisions to Action: Working for Africa with a Safe Chemicals and Waste Future….Read more
Blue Paper: The expected impacts of climate change on the ocean economy
This paper addresses how the compounding hazards of climate change will impact the ocean economy, specifically marine fisheries, aquaculture, and tourism. The paper examines existing and expected climate-driven changes, highlights opportunities for effective institutions and markets to reduce these impacts, explores opportunities for investments by highlighting the magnitude and direction of climate change impacts, and provides recommendations for how countries can achieve blue economic growth by implementing policies and infrastructure that reduce risks and build resilience to climate change…Read More
Mainstreaming blue carbon to finance coastal resilience
Oceans and coastal plant species such as mangroves and seagrasses cover only a small fraction of the earth, but are responsible for sequestering over half of all the carbon captured by living organisms. However, despite being some of the most efficient known carbon sinks, they are also among the ecosystems most threatened by climate change. Threats such as rising sea levels and temperatures, offshore drilling, erosion and pollution have resulted in the rapid deterioration of coastal and marine areas…Read More
Big international gathering will home in on migratory species
A major early milestone in “super year” for biodiversity is a major international conference and associated meetings on migratory species taking place from 15 to 22 February 2020 in Gandhinagar, India. The official title of the meeting is the Thirteenth Meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP13). It opens on 17 February 2020….Read More
