(Panama) Nearly $20 billion in funds dedicated to protecting the oceans were pledged at the global “Our Ocean” conference in Panama on Friday, the host country announced after the meeting closed.
That total includes a $6 billion pledge from the United States, announced Thursday by White House climate envoy John Kerry.
“We are undertaking many different initiatives to have the greatest possible impact,” Kerry told foreign press correspondents in Panama on Friday.
“The reason for the increase is that we passed the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States, which put a lot of money into fighting the climate crisis, and the result is that we have a higher great ability to undertake initiatives that will have a climate impact,” he said.
The statement from the United States Embassy in Panama does not specify the period during which these disbursements will be made, but emphasizes that the amount is “more than double” what the United States promised at the conference “. Our Ocean” of 2022.
Nearly 5 billion dollars of this American envelope will be intended to combat climate change, of which a little more than half to “develop the resilience of marine resources and coastal communities” affected, specified in a press release the American embassy in Panama.
The United States will also spend $665 million to promote sustainable fishing, $200 million to combat pollution, $73 million for “blue economy” programs (the marine equivalent of the green economy) and $11 million to marine protected areas.
For its part, the European Union (EU) has announced that it is committing this year to the tune of 816.5 million euros (1178 million dollars) for projects to protect the seas.
Of this envelope, 320 million euros will be devoted to research on marine biodiversity and countering the impact of climate change on maritime environments, while 250 million euros will go to the Sentinel-1C satellite program for monitoring effects of climate change and in particular the melting of Arctic ice.
Some 600 delegates from governments, companies and NGOs had met since Thursday morning in Panama to discuss the framework to be given to the “blue economy” for the sustainable exploitation and protection of the seas and oceans.
Participants in the “Our Ocean” conference announce voluntary “commitments”, but do not vote or adopt an agreement.