The year 2018 has been designated the International Year of the Reef, to draw attention to efforts to build coral reef resilience. The Prince of Wales hosted a meeting in London to discuss how organisations can work together to improve coral reef health. While progress has been made, we need to build a much stronger and broader coalition to tackle coral reef destruction.
In meetings with Norway’s Minister of Environment, Ola Elvestuen, Minister for International Development, Nikolai Astrup and the new Head of Norwegian International Development Agency, we discussed a greater role for the country on marine policy; private sector engagement and UN reform. At an all-staff meeting at the Agency, I spoke about integrating environmental protection into development policy.
For the first time, the role of the environment in promoting security was addressed at one of the world’s most important international policy forums – the Munich Security Conference. Speaking at a roundtable discussion hosted by UN Environment, I said that directing at least part of military spending to environmental needs could radically change the situation in countries engaged in military conflicts. Environmental spending would not only build trust in countries affected by conflict, but also provide a powerful impetus to the economy while improving people’s health and quality of life. I followed up this discussion with a series of meetings with ministers, UN agency heads and political leaders on environment and security.
