Sustainable Ocean Plan to Address Key Challenges in Ghana’s Marine Ecosystems
As part of efforts to protect Ghana’s marine and coastal resources, the country has started preparing a Sustainable Ocean Plan (SOP) to be the blueprint for the sustainable management of marine resources.
To advance this mission, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) advisory unit of the Office of the President on Thursday held a one-day workshop for the media to enlighten the group on the preparation of the SOP.
The Acting Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission, Dr. Winfred Nelson in an address, noted that the SOP is being developed as a comprehensive framework for sustainable management of Ghana’s coastal ecosystems.
“It reflects our collective effort to ensure the well-being of our environment and the prosperity of our people,” he added.
He noted that the SOP, when completed, would address challenges faced by Ghana’s oceans, such as climate change, pollution and over-exploitation.
He added that the plan aligns with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, which focuses on conserving and sustainably use of oceans, seas and marine resources.
Emphasising the need to integrate diverse perspectives into the final plan, the Acting Director-General stated that media was important in linking policy frameworks to community needs, hence the engagement.
On his part, a member of the SOP Technical Working Group, Mr Ebenezer Appah-Sampah, noted that one of the objectives of the SOP was to optimise the benefits from various uses of the ocean resources while balancing the economic, social and environmental imperatives.
He announced that UNESCO-IOC has embraced the SOP agenda and developed a programme to respond to recommendations of the ocean panel agenda.
“This is with regard to achieving 100% of sustainable ocean planning,” he said.
The five key areas of the SOP include ocean health, ocean wealth, ocean equity, ocean knowledge and ocean finance.
The High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Ocean Panel) launched the Transformations for a Sustainable Ocean Economy document in December 2020.
The Ocean Panel members committed to sustainably manage 100% of the ocean area under their national jurisdiction by 2025.
Ghana, as a founding member of the Ocean Panel, is committed to developing a Sustainable Ocean Plan (SOP) by 2025.
