Excellencies, Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

For too long, our coasts and seas have served as a waste sink for human activities.

The Science is clear.

Marine pollution critically affects the health of the ocean which is in trouble with the volume of both plastic and nutrient pollution reaching close to 10 million tons per year or more.

The UN SDG 14 targets are among the most ambitious. Unfortunately we are seriously delayed in reaching them.

Business as usual will not get us a healthy ocean.

Innovative solutions will!

To address the ocean crisis, UNDP has launched the Ocean Innovation Challenge with catalytic support of Sweden and Norway.

The Challenge seeks innovations that are transferable, replicable, and scalable in order to achieve maximum catalytic impact. Also the challenge must be implemented in and benefit stakeholders in developing countries.

In 2020, the first call addressed marine pollution. The Challenge received more than 600 concept proposals, which yielded 8 funded innovations.

In 2021, the second call focused on marine fisheries, the eleven innovators selected will be announced shortly.

In 2022, the third call will focus on Marine Protected Areas, area-based management, and the blue economy.

Through the Ocean Promise launched this week in Lisbon and building on our two years of experience with the Ocean Innovation Challenge, UNDP is committed to delivering at least 100 unique Ocean Innovations by 2030.

Going forward, we look forward to collaborating with the Global Fund for Coral Reefs—of which UNDP is a proud founder—to replicate and scale up innovations that directly safeguard coral reefs and the communities that rely on them.

It is crucial to keep up the momentum.

I invite you to be part of this effort to innovate as we work to mobilize additional resources to reach our goal of delivering 100 or more ocean solutions by 2030!

Thank you !