The World Bank has announced an influential coalition of governments, international organizations, and private interests that will make up its Global Partnership for Oceans, designed to work on ocean sustainability projects worldwide.
In a Thursday address to the Economist World Oceans Summit in Singapore, World Bank President Robert Zoellick highlighted the need to protect seafood stocks while encouraging development that promotes wealth creation for the communities that harvest seafood.
The National Fisheries Institute has been invited to work with the World Bank on the Global Partnership for Oceans.
“Partnering with the seafood community on issues of sustainability, rather than targeting the industry, is the future of successful efforts,” says NFI President John Connelly. “The World Bank is putting together this partnership in order to invest in the most effective sustainability work happening now.”
The World Bank’s Allfish program, a precursor of the new initiative, has a history of funding programs like the NFI Crab Council. The Bank’s initial $150,000 support helped build a business model that generated nearly a million in private sector investments.
The NFI Crab Council focuses on sustainability efforts in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
“The global nature of seafood means there is a need for global solutions to sustainability challenges,” Connelly says. “And investing in the health of fish stocks can be an important investment in the future of a community. So, whether the outcomes are economic, environmental, or social, the World Bank’s focus is in the right place.”
The Bank has launched a new website to promote the partnership, accessed here.
