11 December 2012, Male'; The Maldives has called on the United Nations General Assembly to urgently address the effective management of oceans resources. Speaking at the UNGA plenary meeting under the Agenda Item on Oceans and the Law of the Sea, the Maldives delegation reiterated the necessity of addressing these issues for countries who rely on marine resources as an economic staple.Specific to the Maldives, tourism and fisheries, both of which rely on ocean resources, are the country's two largest economic contributors.
The Maldives welcomed ongoing efforts by the United Nations, such as the Secretary-General's ocean initiative of 2012, and the inclusion of this debate on the outcome document of June's Rio+20.However, the Maldives expressed its concern that "the current international efforts are not enough to meet the target of restoring fish stocks to their maximum sustainable yields by 2015" and that the "world has missed the 2010 target to achieve a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national levels."
Attempting to combat biodiversity loss at home, it was noted that the Maldives declared the Baa Atoll as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in June 2011 and that work is underway towards making the whole of Maldives a Biosphere Reserve by 2017.These are steps towards signaling the commitment of the Maldivian people towards the sustainable management of ocean resources.
The Maldives statement appreciated the Secretary-General's emphasis placed on ocean thermal energy conversion that could be benefited by SIDS.However, it was noted that many SIDS, including the Maldives, do not have the necessary resources to pursue this goal alone and therefore called on international support and outside investment to aid in the development of marine renewable energies.
The statement was delivered by Mr. Hassan Shihab, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the Maldives to the United Nations.
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