Durban - International Relations and Co-operation Minister Naledi Pandor told the Indian Ocean Rim Association (Iora) meeting in Sri Lanka that oceans are under severe threat by human activities.
Iora members include India, Indonesia, Kenya, and Singapore. Pandor called on world leaders to urgently take action to protect the oceans and people who depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods.
Addressing a meeting of ministers at Iora under the theme “Strengthening Regional Architecture: Reinforcing Indian Ocean Identity” on October 11, Pandor said oceans, seas and coastal areas contributed to food security and poverty eradication. However, oceans were also being targeted for economic profit at the expense of environmental degradation, she said.
“Acidification, pollution, ocean warming, eutrophication and fishery collapse are just some of the examples of the consequences on marine ecosystems.
“These threats are detrimental to the planet and have long-term repercussions that demand urgent action to protect the oceans and the people who depend on them,” Pandor said.
At the ministerial meeting, Iora signed memorandums of understanding with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean), and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (IOC of Unesco).
Iora is an economic co-operative community of littoral and island states whose shores are washed by the Indian Ocean. It is a charter-based regional multilateral organisation that is collegial in nature.
It seeks to build and expand understanding and mutually beneficial co-operation through a consensus-based, evolutionary and non-intrusive approach.
Co-operation among Iora member states is based on the principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, and political independence, non-interference in internal affairs, peaceful coexistence, and mutual benefit.