IISD at the 2022 UN Ocean Conference

The 2022 UN Ocean Conference took place from June 27 to July 1, 2022, in Lisbon, Portugal. It brought together world leaders, public and private sector experts, and civil society to discuss how to scale up innovative, science-based actions to protect the world’s ocean.  

IISD reported on the discussions through our Earth Negotiations Bulletin. Our experts also participated in the following three side events: 

Launch of the 2022 FAO State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture Report—Towards Blue Transformation 

1:15 p.m. on June 29, 2022  

This side event, hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), launched The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report—the biennial flagship report of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division. The 2022 edition is focused on how to achieve a “blue transformation,” defined as a vision for resilient, equitable, and sustainable aquatic food systems. 

Alice Tipping, Lead, Sustainable Trade and Fisheries Subsidies at IISD, moderated a panel of experts as they discussed the report’s highlights and the challenges faced by the sector.

Trade Facilitation for a Sustainable Blue Economy 

1 p.m. on June 29, 2022  

This side event, hosted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat, FAO, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), hosted a multi-stakeholder panel to discuss the role of trade facilitation in helping to build a sustainable blue economy. 

Ieva Baršauskaitė, Senior Policy Advisor at IISD, participated in the panel and provided insights on how to achieve the trade-related targets of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water. 

Addressing Key Challenges in Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Seafood Trade Policy for Sustainable Development 

4 p.m. on July 1, 2022 

IISD co-organized this side event alongside UNCTAD, the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea at the UN Office of Legal Affairs, the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium—as well as other partners, including the governments of New Zealand and Ecuador, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the University of British Columbia. It discussed the most pressing sustainability challenges facing fisheries, aquaculture, and the seafood industry. 

Ieva Baršauskaitė, Senior Policy Advisor at IISD, joined the panel of speakers as they outlined the role that trade policy can play in supporting the sustainable development of fisheries and aquaculture.