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<p>The ocean is vital for life on earth and the prosperity and security of the United
Kingdom. The UK and its Overseas Territories are custodians to the fifth-largest marine
estate in the world. My department therefore has a very important role in promoting
security at sea and improving the conservation and sustainable use of our oceans.
We already take a leading role on maritime protection and are on track to deliver
marine protected areas across nearly 4 million square kilometres of the planet's ocean
and seas through our Blue Belt programme by 2020.</p><p>Activities supported by the
Commonwealth Marine Economies Programme are helping to deliver the UK's global commitments
to the Commonwealth marine environment and tackling climate change, including the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14, the Commonwealth Blue Charter and
the Paris Climate Change Accord.</p><p>However, our ocean is shared, and it is only
through international cooperation that global ocean conservation will be delivered.
That is why at the United Nations General Assembly this September, the Government
called for 30 per cent of the world's oceans to be protected within Marine Protected
Areas by 2030 and why we are committed to negotiations for a new Implementing Agreement
under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea for the conservation and
sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.</p><p>We
are also working on an International Ocean Strategy, which will provide the government
with a blueprint for international action on all fronts that will support the long
term prosperity of the UK and reaffirm our long term commitment to the health of the
marine environment.</p>
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