The 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly has once again recognised the importance of our Partnership by “reiterating its support” to ICRI in the resolution entitled Oceans and the law of the Sea adopted on 11 December 2012.
The resolution, put forward by 45 countries including ICRI founding members, reads in paragraph 200 that the UN General Assembly: “Reiterates its support for the International Coral Reef Initiative, notes the International Coral Reef Initiative General Meeting, held in Cairns, Australia, from 16 to 19 July 2012, and supports the elaborated programme of work of the Convention on Biological Diversity on marine and coastal biological diversity related to coral reefs under the Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal Biological Diversity”.
By acknowledging the work of ICRI, the General Assembly has sent a strong message of support to ICRI’s work and has highlighted that ICRI still has an important cooperation, collaboration and advocacy role to play within the international arena.
The resolution mentions coral reefs several other times, particularly at paragraphs 201-204, to recognise their socio-economic importance and vulnerability to threats such as climate change and overfishing, and to encourage States to take action particularly on coral bleaching, vessel grounding and sustainable coral reef management.
The full text of the resolution is available at http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/67/L.21 or below.
