Consensus reached on Manado Ocean Declaration: minister

Source: Xinhua | 05-13-2009 15:06

MANADO, Indonesia, May 13 (Xinhua) -- All participating countries in the World Ocean Conference have agreed the draft Manado Ocean Declaration which will be signed later in Manado, capital of North Sulawesi province, Indonesia, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The agreement was reached after the Tuesday and Wednesday senior officials meetings, Indonesian Minister of maritime Affairs and Fisheries Fredy Numberi said here on Wednesday at a workshop of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA).

The minister did not elaborate on the details of the draft declaration but said the essence was that all the participating countries would make a proposal for inclusion of matters like sea issues in the talks at the Climate Change Congress to be held by the United Nations in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the end of 2009.

"We hope the declaration could be entered the UN system," he added.

The senior officials meeting, he said, also discussed various views related to dynamic relations between the sea and climate change and funding mechanism, research and coastal populations.

Earlier, the chairman of the meeting, Eddy Pratomo said the agreement is still in the form of a recommendation for reference to a ministerial meeting on May 13-14.

Eddy said the draft declaration produced by the senior officials meeting was an encouraging achievement because the sea would become an important issue for climate change discussions at international meetings.

The first World Ocean Conference, which was attended representatives from about 70 countries, started here from May 11 and it will be concluded on May 15.

Meanwhile, various symposiums and meetings as well as exhibitions about ocean issues are also being held in Manado.

Editor:Zhang Yun