07/06/24 (Agence Europe) – On Friday 7 June, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius issued a joint statement outlining the EU’s objectives for protecting the oceans on World Oceans Day. They welcome the agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in the high seas, known as ‘BBNJ’ (see EUROPE 13367/18), as well as the 40 commitments made by the EU at the 9th ‘Our Ocean’ conference (see EUROPE 13392/15). The EU also wants to extend marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean and is campaigning for the creation of a legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution. In their view, protecting the oceans is linked to the fight against climate change and must be a joint international effort, along the lines of the Kunming-Montreal global framework. Link to the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/ckx (PC - intern)