Mr. President, Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my honor to deliver this explanation of position on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

At the outset, we wish to once again sincerely thank the Government and people of France for hosting the Conference and for their kind hospitality. We also thank the Co-Host, Costa Rica and the Co-facilitators, Australia and Cabo Verde, for their respective parts in ensuring the Conference and Outcome were a success.

The Group sees a significant importance of the declaration to be adopted by consensus. Our oceans and seas are critically important as they are our planet's lungs. They produce over 50% of oxygen, they are home to most of earth's biodiversity, they regulate our climate and support the livelihoods. They are essential for our food security, economic growth, planetary health, and are an integral source for our identity and culture.

The Group believes the document before us tries to address our deep concern over the accelerating degradation of marine ecosystems, marine pollution, including plastics and chemical runoff, overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, loss of biodiversity, acidification and warming of ocean waters.

Many of the countries of our Group are Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and coastal developing nations, and to them the Ocean is not only a body of water, but also a resource, a life and survival.

The Group reaffirms the central role of multilateralism in advancing sustainable ocean governance, and calls for united, global action that leaves no nation behind in safeguarding the ocean as a common heritage of humankind.

We recognize that SDG 14 is one of the least funded SDGs and that accelerating ocean action globally requires significant and accessible finance and the fulfilment of existing commitments and obligations under relevant intergovernmental agreements. It also requires adequate and scaled up means of implementation for developing countries, in particular SIDS and LDCs, to address the funding gap of SDG 14.

We are hopeful that the Conference Outcome Document will provide the momentum needed for SDG14 and our oceans and seas.

We therefore urge our development partners, the UN system, multilateral institutions, including the International Financial Institutions, and all stakeholders to timely step up with genuine ambition, solidarity and financing.

Mr. President, Excellencies,

The time to act is not tomorrow. The time to act is now… for our ocean… for our planet… and for our people and future generations.

Thank you.