UN Conference in Samoa Unites World Leaders Behind Small Island Nations as Climate Change Looms - Mission Blue

September 3, 2014

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By Courtney Mattison

Equipped only with the tools of Polynesian ancestors and their unwavering conviction, the crews of the Hōkūle‘a and Hikianalia traditional voyaging canoes sailed into Apia, Samoa on Sunday after navigating from Hawaii through Polynesia since May. The Pacific Voyagers and Nainoa Thompson – President and Master Navigator of the Polynesian Voyaging Society – were accompanied onboard the Hōkūle‘a for its most recent sail by ocean artist Wyland and Conservation International’s Greg Stone and were welcomed ashore by Dr. Sylvia Earle amid an impressive display of traditional Polynesian performers. Once on shore, the Samoa Head of State addressed his guests with a profoundly heartfelt speech expressing Samoa’s appreciation for its kinship with Hawaii, setting the tone for a four-day conference hosted by the United Nations on Small Island Developing States (SIDS). With the goal of inspiring world leaders to take greater action for a sustainable future for island nations around the globe, the Hōkūle‘a made landfall at the Third United Nations Conference on SIDS as part of its Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage. “Mālama Honua” : “Care for our Island Earth.”

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The Hōkūle‘a coming to shore in Apia, Samoa (photo courtesy Jenifer Austin)

Small island nations are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, the overconsumption of natural resources, invasive species and other challenges facing our ocean today, making the SIDS Conference a vital opportunity for island government leaders to team up with more highly developed countries and other stakeholders with an eye on the future.

“People often say we are in the same boat,” Ban Ki-moon – United Nations Secretary General – told the Hōkūle‘a’s crew on Monday when signing their environmental stewardship pledge. “I would say we are all on the same small island on the same small planet Earth; this is like a small boat in the universe.” The Secretary General, his wife and Sylvia Earle joined the others onboard for a sail around Apia Harbor to experience the crew’s mission for sustainable development. Thompson remarked, “Hōkūle’a threads together stories of hope as she voyages across the world’s oceans. We are inspired that His Excellency Ban Ki-moon and island leaders are coming together on Hōkūle’a’s deck around shared values of preserving and protecting our oceans.”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon signing the Hōkūle‘a environmental stewardship pledge (photo courtesy Polynesian Voyaging Society)
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon signing the Hōkūle‘a environmental stewardship pledge (photo courtesy Polynesian Voyaging Society)

Since SIDS face such unique economic and environmental challenges, it seems appropriate that this year’s conference theme be “the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States through genuine and durable partnerships.” By enhancing regional and global collaborations between local coastal communities and UN organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), national governments and the private sector, SIDS will be better equipped to adapt to threats like sea level rise, overfishing and environmental degradation caused by tourism and coastal development. As hosts to some of the world’s largest marine protected areas, these islands – many of which are considered economically very poor – are ecologically rich with biodiversity and natural resources. Protecting this wealth of life through sustainable development can ensure more graceful transitions during future changes in climate, population and other variables. By restructuring major industry sectors important to small island communities like tourism, manufacturing, agriculture and financial services through policy change and investment from the business community, SIDS can develop economies that will allow them to function in a changing world while protecting the environment and their people.[i]

The four-day SIDS Conference officially began on Monday September 1 with a plenary meeting including opening remarks from the President of the Conference, the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States and the Secretary-General of the Conference. Alongside a series of plenary meetings this week, multi-stakeholder partnership dialogues are being held to focus on six key issues: sustainable economic development; climate change and disaster risk management; social development in SIDS health, youth and women; sustainable energy; oceans, seas and biodiversity; and water and sanitation, food security and waste management.

Australia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop, President of the General Assembly John W. Ashe and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (photo courtesy Jenifer Austin)
Australia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop, President of the General Assembly John W. Ashe and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (photo courtesy Jenifer Austin)

Mission Blue is an active participant in the Conference and today Sylvia Earle invited SIDS leaders to nominate areas within their jurisdictions as Hope Spots to protect and restore “Earth’s blue heart.” Mission Blue is pleased to team up with Google and IUCN to train countries nominating Hope Spots in the use of Google Earth and Maps and other visualization tools to help them raise awareness and develop further conservation programs and partnerships. Maps of nominated areas will be presented at the World Parks Congress in Sydney this winter.

Partnership commitments that are formed this week will be announced along with other reports from the multi-stakeholder meetings on the final day of the Conference during the closing plenary meeting. The Conference will conclude with the adoption of an outcome document and an official report, with fresh collaborations already in the works.

Back onboard the Hōkūle’a, a glass bottle contains a message from Secretary-General Ban. During his sail earlier this week, Ban presented Thompson and the Worldwide Voyage crew with a handwritten declaration that he asked them to carry as they continue to circle the globe through 2017:

“I am honored to be a part of Hōkūle’a’s Worldwide Voyage. I am inspired by its global mission. As you tour the globe, I will work and rally more leaders to our common cause of ushering in a more sustainable future, and a life of dignity for all.”

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Learn more about SIDS 2014 HERE and about Hōkūle’a’s Worldwide Voyage HERE.


[i] Dr. Kalim U. Shah. 2014. Industry associations are strategic actors in transitioning Caribbean SIDS to sustainable economies. OUTREACH. 9/2/2014.

Featured image: Nainoa Thompson, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Sylvia Earle and Yoo Soon-taek onboard the Hōkūle’a in Apia, Samoa  © Polynesian Voyaging Society

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