Offisielt besøk til Japan: Åpning av havkonferanse

Your Majesty Emperor Naruhito
Excellencies
Prime Minister Takaichi
Distinguished audience,

First, I would like to convey my deep appreciation for the warm welcome we have received here in Japan. It is wonderful to be back in your magnificent country, Your Majesty.

I speak also for my parents, the King and Queen, when I express gratitude for the strong bonds between our families – and the close friendship between our countries.

I have fond memories of my previous visit to Japan in 2019 – on the occasion of Your Majesty’s ascension to the throne. And we will never forget the state visit to Norway by His Majesty Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in 2005, when horizontal rain threatened to sweep us off our feet. The weather improved, and despite the weather the visit was as warm as it always is when our families meet.

Your Majesty,
Distinguished organisers of today’s Ocean Summit,
In 2019, I visited Fiji, Samoa and Tonga in the South Pacific in my capacity as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme.

I saw first-hand how rising ocean levels are threatening people and land. Floods are destroying farmland and coral reefs are dying. It made a lasting impression on me to see villages struggling to protect their communities.

At the same time, I was impressed by the resilience of the people and their ability to adapt.

Parts of the Pacific have been warming rapidly. According to recent data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sea surface temperatures are around 0.5 degrees C above normal. And this season El Niño is expected to develop. Scientists are concerned about the effects it could have on global weather patterns, including the possibility of extreme weather events.

Your Majesty,
Excellencies,
The ocean is our shared life-support system. The ocean regulates our climate, provides us with food and supports our livelihoods. No one knows this better than island people, and in particular those living in Small Island Developing States.

It is essential to adapt to the impacts of a changing ocean and to build climate resilience. This requires whole-of-society and whole-of-government planning. This is exactly what Sustainable Ocean Plans provide.

But the ocean is not just a victim of climate change. It can also provide solutions. Sustainable ocean planning can create frameworks for attracting investment to green ocean industries. If managed wisely, the ocean will continue to support economic growth, employment and food security for island states and the rest of the world.

Your Majesty,
Distinguished audience,
Sustainable ocean management is dependent on scientific knowledge: we need more ocean observation, better and more timely ocean data and more science to inform decision making.

The High-level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy was created to address ocean opportunities and ocean threats, based on the conviction that protection, production and prosperity can and must go hand in hand. The Panel is co-chaired by President Whipps of Palau – who is present here today – and Prime Minister Støre of Norway.

Norway is proud to stand together with all of you at this Summit.

Our shared ambition is bold but necessary: to sustainably manage 100 % of the ocean areas under national jurisdiction, guided by Sustainable Ocean Plans.

The efforts of the Ocean Panel members have generated a large body of knowledge and a resource base that all states can draw on. It is important that Panel members and other actors share their knowledge and experience, which is exactly what we are doing at this Summit – and why this meeting is so important.

Finally, I would like to recognise the important role that this Summit plays in helping us to achieve the goals of the UN Ocean Decade – by increasing ocean knowledge and literacy and improving management of our global ocean.

I would like to thank the Nippon Foundation, the Japanese Government and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission for organising and hosting this Summit.

I look forward to today’s discussions, and I hope we can use what we learn here in our ongoing efforts to improve the health of the ocean.

Thank you.