Norway and Chile establish bilateral ocean dialogue

The MoU with Chile was signed on Monday 1 March in a video meeting between Ms Eriksen Søreide and the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrés Allamand.

As a key part of the follow-up to the white paper on the place of the oceans in Norway’s foreign and development policy, Norway is seeking to strengthen dialogue and cooperation on ocean-related issues with relevant countries. Norway has previously initiated formalised ocean dialogues with Australia and India. Norway and Chile are already engaged in wide-ranging cooperation and share many common ocean-based interests, in particular with regard to ocean industries, sustainable management of ocean areas in the Antarctic, and efforts to promote sustainable oceans through multilateral processes. The aim of the ocean dialogue is to increase the profile of, and further develop, the oceans as an important component of the cooperation between Norway and Chile.

Following up the conclusions of the Ocean Panel will comprise a vital part of the formal ocean dialogue. The Ocean Panel was established at the initiative of Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who is also its co-chair. Norway, together with Chile and the twelve other member countries, is working to promote greater international understanding of how the economic significance of the oceans is linked to environmental status. The Panel's member countries have made a commitment to sustainably manage 100 % of the ocean areas under their national jurisdiction by 2025. This means that in five years’ time, close to 40 % of the world’s coastlines and 30 % of all exclusive economic zones will be covered by integrated management plans.