Bilateral meeting with the French Ambassador for Poles and Maritime Issues and Special Envoy of the President for the Third UN Ocean Conference – Olivier Poivre d'Arvor
Rome - The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, met with Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, French Ambassador for the Poles and Maritime Issues and Special Envoy of the President for the Third UN Ocean Conference.
The French Special Envoy emphasized the importance of the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference UNOC which will be organized jointly by France and Costa Rica in June 2025. He stressed that the Conference will be an opportunity to reach an agreement to protect the ocean as a common good of humanity. In this regard, he highlighted the vital role that FAO plays in the preparation of the Conference and requested to draw from FAO's expertise to develop the programme and the ambition of the Conference.
The Director-General welcomed the Special Envoy to FAO. He reiterated that FAO will support, within its mandate, the preparation for the UNOC. FAO's support will align with FAO's Blue Transformation vision, which aims to leverage policies, science, research, technology, and innovation to achieve Sustainable aquaculture, effective management of fisheries and upgraded value chains while ensuring social, economic and environmental viability of aquatic food systems.
The Director-General and the Special Envoy agreed to continue the coordination ahead of the Conference, including through linkages with global processes such as the Food Systems Stocktaking Moment, the UNFCCC Conference and the Convention on Biological Diversity.