On Monday, the UN will start its maritime conference in Lisbon. The conference aims to produce much-needed science-based innovative solutions that aim to start a new chapter with global action for the sea. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is the leader of the Marine Panel, and Norway is of course a participant. Due to the attack in Oslo on Saturday night, Støre chose to cancel the trip. But Minister of Climate and Environment Espen Barth Eide, Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Bjørnar Skjæran, and Minister of Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim participate. The sea panel consists of 15 sitting heads of state and government in coastal and sea countries from all over the world and is hired by Norway’s prime minister and Palaus’ president. – We must bring with us countries in the world to see that it is in their interest. For the sea, it does not help with measures in a country, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to news. CLIMATE: Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre at the climate summit at COP26 Glasgow. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB One of Støre’s goals is to: “gain greater support for the Marine Panel’s action plan, which shows how the sea can contribute to solving many of our time’s major challenges when it comes to climate, food security and job creation.” The plan consists of many parts. One of them is about the protection of the sea. Within five years, close to 40 per cent of the world’s coastlines and 30 per cent of the exclusive economic zones will be subject to comprehensive management plans, it says. – Norway has different approaches to protecting our oceans. We are open to using protection in some contexts, but we also have strict regulations for how we manage. I think Norway can stand up in international relations, and refer to our practice, says Støre. Norwegian protection It is scientifically documented that the protection of marine areas preserves biological diversity, protects protected species, strengthens the resilience of the ecosystem, and can contribute to more sustainability in fisheries, writes the Institute of Marine Research. – The Norwegian coast is so long and diverse, so it must be knowledge-based what we do. Whether we declare a protected area or strict regulations for activity, says Jonas Gahr Støre. Climate Minister Espen Barth Eide has previously emphasized the goal of protection can be achieved through measures other than protection: If it is the lobster that is threatened, then we do not fish for lobster. – No, where protection is right, then one should protect. There are some who believe that protection requires that an area be closed to absolutely all possible use. We must stop activity that harms nature, said Barth Eide. What can be called protection? According to the Norwegian Environment Agency’s definition, marine protection is “to take care of representative, distinctive, vulnerable and endangered submarine habitats along the coast and in territorial waters”. But in several areas of Norway, there is still fishing with both nets and trawls. This is contrary to international standards for marine protection. The Institute of Marine Research says Norway is reporting incorrectly to the UN. More than 95 percent of the protected sea area in Europe allowed activities that destroy nature. In only 1 percent of the marine protected areas, all human activity is prohibited, an analysis shows. Nevertheless, a 10% target is reached as achieved in the EU. It is better to focus on what the protection is meant to achieve, because it can vary greatly from city to city what problem one wants to solve, says Norway. Norway is also working for common methods for reporting goal achievement. Stay behind the rest of the world – When it comes to protection, Norway is not so good. In the world, the average is seven percent. We are behind the goal we have set ourselves. That’s what Geir Huse says. He is research director for marine ecosystems and resources at the Institute of Marine Research. SEA: Geir Huse is research director at the Institute of Marine Research. Photo: Erlend Astad Lorentzen In total, the current marine protected area in Norway accounts for around five percent, the institute writes. The Storting has asked the government to reach the goal of ten percent marine protection of coastal and marine areas by 2030. According to an international goal in the UN Biodiversity Convention, we should have reached it by 2020. Last Wednesday, the government established Norway’s largest marine protected area, Lopphavet, so the percentage can ha auka noko. If we include other effective area-based conservation measures, which Huse says Norway is good at, more than half of the sea area is under such plans. – But we have not reached the protection target set for Norwegian sea areas, which is ten percent, says Huse. GREENPEACE: Halvard Haga Raavand from Greenpeace photographed on the deck of “Esperanza” in Isfjorden, Svalbard. May 2019 Photo: Knut-Sverre Horn / news Norway in 43rd place If Norway is to persuade other countries to protect the sea, the country should be a good example of how they should do it. But in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), which measures how different countries act in the face of global warming, Norway comes in 43rd place in the category of marine protected areas. Denmark ends up first. We come out worst of the Nordic countries in this category. The index is compiled by the American universities Yale and Colombia, and measures the performance of 180 countries. – I think many countries see Norway as a country that is good at marine protection, but if you look at what Norway’s management plans contain, it is clear that we are the worst in the class, says Halvard Haga Raavand, political adviser in Greenpeace. He believes that what the government must do when they travel to Lisbon is to extend the Biodiversity Act. The Biodiversity Act provides an opportunity for the protection of nature on the seabed and in the water column within the Norwegian territorial boundary (12 nautical miles). Norway manages the sea area up to 200 nautical miles. – One can thus not establish protection for the largest part of the Norwegian sea. If Norway is to travel there with a good picture of how one should manage the sea, that is the first thing they should do.
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Norway to save the sea – but now fails to meet international goals – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
