Supreme Council for Environment attends "Our Ocean" conference

Manama, Sep. 16 (BNA): His Highness Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid bin Isa Al Khalifa, Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Environment, participated in the Third Our Ocean Conference in Washington D.C. on September 15-16. The Our Ocean Conference is hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry, with remarks delivered by President Barrack Obama. The conference focused on the key ocean issues of our time – marine protected areas, sustainable fisheries, marine pollution, and climate-related impacts on the ocean. The event included foreign ministers, environment and fisheries ministers, and other established and up-and-coming ocean leaders in government, science, industry, civil society and global leaders in ocean conservation. Speakers at the conference included Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Catherine Novelli, the first American female to walk in space Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, and Hollywood actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio. At the conference, President Obama formally announced that he will designate a section of the Atlantic Ocean as a national monument, banning commercial fishing in the area by 2023. Other countries who made announcements for the ocean included Monaco, Lebanon and Chile. Attendance to the conference strengthens current efforts towards the existing Bahrain - United State Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)on Environmental Cooperation which accompanies the United States-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Thisv will increase cooperation with the United States to protect coastal environmental zones and prevent over exploitation of marine resources through regional workshops, research and data collaboration and international and regional initiatives and programs.