Protecting our ocean is crucial- Prime Minister

Fiji "means business" when it comes to protecting our ocean's health.

This was stressed by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama while speaking at a side-event on "Sustainable Ocean Economies that can drive a Blue Recovery and Sustainable Development" in Lisbon, Portugal.

Bainimarama adds that there is an urgent need for every nation to follow our actions on protecting our ocean.

In his capacity as the Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Bainimarama says funding ocean ambition in the Pacific can take our nations from the frontline of the climate crisis to the cutting edge of ocean innovation.

On the home front, he also outlined some of Fiji’s major commitments toward sustainable ocean management that includes committing to sustainably manage our ocean by 2030, with 30% as Marine Protected Areas.

Bainimarama says that by 2030, Fiji will ban virtually all single-use plastics and recycle all PET bottles adding that deepening ocean literacy will be a mandatory objective within Fiji’s national curriculum.

The head of Government also highlighted Fiji’s plans to have all fishing nets in Fijian waters bio-degradable, and government intends to create 100,000 new blue economy jobs–more than a tenth of Fiji’s current population.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister also delivered his remarks at the "Managing, Protecting, Conserving and Restoring Marine and Coastal Ecosystem" event, where he revealed that as the Pacific, our ambition is to protect 30% of our ocean.