Latest content: Commonwealth Blue Charter

International concern for the plight of the global ocean is at an all-time high. In April this year, the 53 countries of the Commonwealth adopted the Commonwealth Blue Charter, creating a bright blue beacon to guide cooperative action on ocean issues. 

In August 2017, Jeff Ardron, Ocean Governance Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat, reported on the first High-level Pacific Blue Economy Conference, in Fiji: “The ‘Blue Economy’ is a term that appears to have been invented independently by both Pacific Islanders and the colourful German entrepreneur Günter Pauli.

Commonwealth leaders today agreed on a bold, co-ordinated push to protect the ocean from the effects of climate change, pollution and over-fishing. Their landmark decision to adopt a Commonwealth Blue Charter will affect one third of the world’s national coastal waters, helping to sustain livelihoods and ecosystems globally.