Statement by Mr. Yedla Umasankar, Legal Adviser at the Tenth Meeting of the UN General Assembly Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole on Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects on 28 February 2018

Thank you Co. Chairs,

India would like to thank the Under-Secretary-General and UN Legal Counsel for his opening remarks and both the Co-Chairs for presenting the oral report on the activities of the Bureau of the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole on Regular Process. We appreciate your initiative and hard work in hosting nine meetings of the Bureau and the Group of Experts since the last meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group.

We thank the Bureau for producing the Guidelines for conducting the workshops to assist the second cycle of Regular Process between 2017 and 2020 and the revised terms of reference and working methods of the Group of Experts.

Towards conducting 2^nd phase of Assessment of Marine environment particularly for the Indian Ocean region, India has nominated a list of 10 experts for the Pool of Experts to participate in Second Cycle of the Regular Process.

Co. Chairs,

India as a country with vast coast line with peninsular features surrounded by the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea, we recognise the importance of oceans and seas. They play pivotal role in furtherance of economic development. The 2030 Agenda recognized this in the Sustainable Development Goal 14.

Recognizing the importance of the health of oceans and seas for economic development, particularly to address and reverse the deterioration of the health of the ocean through the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal 14, a High Level Indian delegation headed by Mr. M J Akbar, Minister of State for External Affairs participated in the June 2017 Oceans Conference.  

India has made a set of 17 voluntary contributions towards achieving the SDG-14, which includes sustainable fisheries, reduce marine pollution, protect coastal sensitive areas, contribute to capacity building in the Indian Ocean, augment ocean observations and technology development.  India has well laid policies towards addressing the SDG-14 viz., Ocean Policy Statement, National Marine Fishery Management, Water Pollution Act.    

Constant monitoring and adoption of measures to reduce and prevent pollution of oceans is very important. India has adopted and is implementing a unique monitoring programme for the past three decades. Under this programme we have undertaken extensive data collection in the coastal waters at several places and analysed that data for the physical, chemical, biological, etc., properties of waters.

We have long standing collaborative relationship with international agencies, such as the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, the UNESCO, etc. India has recently joined the International Energy Agency-Ocean Energy System, as a member with a view to further the collaborative research and development work in the area of renewable ocean energy.

Co-Chairs,

India played an active role in the first Cycle of the Regular Process during 2010-2015, which resulted in the First Global Integrated Marine Assessment on state of the health of the oceans. We contributed our expertise in the area of marine chemistry, physical oceanography, marine geology, and marine biology. In collaboration with the UN- DOALOS, India hosted the eight UN Workshop on 27-29 January 2014 at Chennai in India. It was attended by several scientists from the countries in the region. It facilitated and contributed to the preparation of the Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment. The salient recommendations of the workshop pertained to communication among various States in the region, also involving regional organizations; promotion of establishment of a coordination mechanism for the conduct of assessments in the area beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) with the participation of the Indian Ocean Rim countries, updating of template with inventory of assessments, authentication of data especially, water quality data.

In terms of capacity building, India has necessary expertise and resources. We are partnering with other countries to share our knowledge and offering training facilities. We have a network of researchers and institutions in place for an effective system of regular reporting and assessment of the state of marine environment, including the socio-economic aspects, of the Indian Ocean and the Indian Ocean Rim region.

India has been working very closely with the regional UN forums such the South Asia Co-operate Environment Program (SACEP), Colombo, to address issues pertaining to Assessment of Assessment of state of marine environment. We would like to continue promote this endeavour through SACEP.  

Lastly, as per the recommendation of 39^th Session of General Conference of UNESCO, held in November 2017, UNESCO, Paris, India is in the process of establishment of Category-2 Centre of UNESCO, at Hyderabad towards capacity development in the field of Ocean Science and Technology for the Indian Ocean Rim Countries.

Finally, we extend our full cooperation to the Bureau and look forward to participating in the second cycle of the Regular Process.

Thank you, Co-Chairs.