Thomas J. F. Goreau, PhD
President, Global Coral Reef Alliance
The Global Coral Reef Alliance (GCRA) and SIDS DOCK, the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Sustainable Energy and Climate Resilience Organization, signed an agreement to collaborate on the SIDS Blue Guardians Programme, aimed at helping small islands transform their economies to a “Blue Economy.” GCRA and SIDS DOCK signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters, on September 29 2019, during the fifth session of the Assembly of SIDS DOCK on the margins of the 74 UN General Assembly. The agreement was signed by His Excellency Ronald Jumeau, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Seychelles and Vice President of the SIDS DOCK Assembly, and Dr. Thomas Goreau, President, GCRA.
Dr Tom Goreau at the UN session. At left is Seychelles Ambassador Ronald Jumeau, and at right is Dr. Al Binger, Executive Director of SIDS DOCK
The MoU provides the general framework for cooperation between the Parties to accelerate the synergistic deployment and monitoring of ocean environmental management, rehabilitation of ecosystems, and ocean based renewable energy technologies in small island developing states.
The Blue Guardians partnership aims to provide small islands with technical advice to “develop sustainable island economies while increasing resilience to climate change by supporting coastal communities, marine and fisheries conservation, and clean renewable energy”.
SIDS DOCK was launched in 2015, and is a UN-recognized international organization with all the rights and privileges for addressing climate change, resilience, and energy security in small islands. Small islands comprise more than one-fifth of the total membership of the UN, and have stewardship over more than 20 percent of the world’s oceans.
GCRA, an international non-profit research organization developing critical new technology to allow coral reefs and marine ecosystems to adapt to and reverse global climate change, is committed to providing its life-saving ecosystem regeneration technology to the countries that most need it to adapt to and mitigate the existential threats of global climate change to the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples.
Dr. Tom Goreau’s UN presentation:
Climate-Proofing Coastal Communities and Regenerating Ecosystems to Reverse Climate Change
Read more:
https://sidsdock.org/press-release-sids-dock-assembly-a-solemn-ceremony-tears-for-the-bahamas