{"id":724513,"date":"2026-06-09T05:13:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T05:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/724513\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T05:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T05:13:12","slug":"canada-to-host-worlds-premier-oceans-conference-in-2027","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/724513\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada to host world\u2019s premier oceans conference in 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

For next year\u2019s Our Ocean Conference in Halifax, Canada has identified four priority themes, including the blue economy and ocean-dependent communities, and Indigenous and community leadership in ocean protection.Andrew Vaughan\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Canada will host the world\u2019s premier ocean action conference for the first time next year.<\/p>\n

The Our Ocean Conference<\/a> will take place in Halifax in 2027, federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson announced Monday on World Ocean Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe health of the ocean, which is conservation and sustainability, is also linked to the reality of our fisheries \u2013 which are linked to who we are as a country, to the socioeconomic reality of our coastlines and our Indigenous communities,\u201d says Ms. Thompson, the MP for St. John\u2019s East. \u201cWe can do both, and we must do both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Launched in 2014 by then-U.S. secretary of state John Kerry and predating the United Nations Ocean Conference<\/a>, the Our Ocean Conference is a voluntary commitments forum \u2013 a departure from the slow grind of negotiated treaties toward faster, more flexible action on ocean challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was set up so that individual commitments could be made that could move a lot faster than the multilateral system,\u201d says Tom Pickerell, director of the World Resources Institute ocean program and head of the conference\u2019s Secretariat. \u201cThis has moved from a conservation-led convening in the early days to very much focusing on a sustainable ocean economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

UN treaty to protect high seas gains global support, but falls short of ratification<\/a><\/p>\n

The conference has generated more than 2,900 commitments<\/a> worth more than $228-billion, with about 80 per cent completed or under way. Governments have driven the most action, accounting for 61 per cent of commitments and 17 of 29 pledges exceeding $1-billion \u2013 among them Norway\u2019s $1-billion climate adaptation pledge and Japan\u2019s $3-billion contribution to the Green Climate Fund for coastal and marine conservation.<\/p>\n

Canada has pledged a total of $1.06-billion, including an $800-million investment in Indigenous-led conservation initiatives in 2022 and a $162-million commitment to support resilient coastal communities and small island developing states in 2018 \u2013 both of which are in progress. It also pledged a $100-million Ocean Plastics Charter commitment to ensure plastics are designed for recycling, which was completed in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe funding gap required to achieve a sustainable ocean economy is potentially US$550-billion \u2013 and that can\u2019t come from just government,\u201d said Mr. Pickerell, adding that research<\/a> suggests ocean investments yield roughly five-to-one returns, particularly across offshore wind, decarbonization of international shipping, and aquaculture and fisheries.<\/p>\n

For the conference\u2019s twelfth edition in Halifax, Canada has identified four priority themes: the blue economy and ocean-dependent communities; Indigenous and community leadership in ocean protection; ocean observation and climate services; and sustainability in the high seas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a huge opportunity for Canada to demonstrate that it\u2019s very serious about a sustainable ocean \u2013 that includes protected areas, sustainable industries, and Indigenous rights and advancing conservation in the Arctic,\u201d says Susanna Fuller, vice-president of conservation and projects at non-profit Oceans North. \u201cThere are certainly expectations on host countries to meet their commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s $3.8-billion nature strategy<\/a> projects marine protection reaching 28 per cent of Canada\u2019s waters by 2030 \u2013 close to, but not fully meeting, the 30 per cent by 2030 target adopted under the Global Biodiversity Framework. Last month, Canada established the first<\/a> of up to 10 new national marine conservation areas committed under the strategy. On April 30, Ms. Thompson tabled the High Seas Treaty in Parliament, a step toward ratification of the accord governing biodiversity in international waters.<\/p>\n

Currently, only about 8.4 per cent of the global ocean is protected. An estimated 42 per cent of implemented marine protected areas globally were announced at Our Ocean Conferences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not quite there in our 30 by 30 commitments \u2013 I think it\u2019s an opportunity to fill the gap in area-based protection, and a great way to use the next year as a real leverage point on getting things done,\u201d says Dr. Fuller.<\/p>\n

Halifax, home to a cluster of ocean science institutions, gives the conference a natural anchor, says Shannon Miedema, the Liberal MP for the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are Canada\u2019s ocean supercluster \u2013 we have strength in offshore wind research, renewable energy, carbon sequestration, marine conservation, and our fisheries and coastal communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next year\u2019s conference will follow the 11th conference<\/a>, set for June 16 to 18 in Mombasa, Kenya \u2013 the first time the conference has been held on the African continent. Previous hosts have ranged from small island states such as Palau to major economies including the U.S., Chile, Indonesia, Norway and the EU.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t always done what we needed to do, but we have the opportunity now to ensure that we put everything we can towards this,\u201d says Ms. Thompson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: For next year\u2019s Our Ocean Conference in Halifax, Canada has identified four priority…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-724513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}