The Prince of Wales last week announced the launch of a new Blue Economy Initiative during his keynote speech at the Our Ocean Conference in Malta.
The initiative, a collaboration between The Prince’s International Sustainability Unit (ISU) and the World Resources Institute (WRI), aims to build ocean resilience and encourage ocean related investments and policies to support sustainable development.
In doing so, the Blue Economy Initiative will aim to create a balanced relationship between the ocean and those who benefit from its resources. It will also endeavour to reverse the cycle of decline and pollution which has affected the oceans for too long.
As part of the initiative the ISU has already been working with The European Commission and World Wildlife Fund, of which His Royal Highness is President, to develop financing principles for the Blue Economy, including a working group comprised of banks, insurance companies and NGOs which will be launched next year.
During his keynote speech The Prince of Wales said: “Yet while we should be relieved that the health of the Ocean is now understood, alongside rainforests, to be one of the essential prerequisites for our physical and economic survival, and I’m afraid I really do wonder if the Ocean’s fragility is yet truly grasped and how susceptible it is to the impacts of our economic activities?”
In addition to his keynote speech, The Prince of Wales and His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco convened two high-level meetings examining the future of the sustainable Blue Economy and the action required to address the current plight of the world’s coral reefs.
