MORE than 70 representatives from across the Pacific have called for a more inclusive voice as the world prepares for the upcoming United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030.
According to the Pacific Community (SPC), the call was made at the first of nine regional preparatory workshops held last week to determine key priorities towards a more sustainable and healthier ocean.
Dr Frances Koya-Vaka’uta from the University of the South Pacific emphasised the important role of Pacific culture in the fight to save the oceans.
“Because it’s so critical to our very survival and livelihoods, it has to be in a language our people can connect with,” she said.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean having to include Pacific words or language but seeing that you are represented and that your voices are reflected in the generic language and representation.”
SPC said the regional meeting would shape how Pacific priorities were embedded into the upcoming Ocean Science Decade and ensure that the region had a strong voice in shaping approaches to reverse
the devastating impacts being witnessed in our ocean.
SPC’s director-general Dr Colin Tukuitonga underlined how ocean science must be both data driven and easily understandable.
“The need for science to be inter-disciplinary, well understood and made more accessible to wider audiences, cannot be emphasised enough,” he said.
“Technology must be harnessed to break down barriers and to enable people, communities and policymakers to access and make use of scientific data to better inform decision making at every level.”
