Manado, November 1st, 2018 –  The Archipelagic and Island States Forum (AIS) on Thursday reached a new milestone with ministers and senior officials adopting a declaration on sustainable use of ocean resources and innovative financing mechanism on climate actions.

The Forum AIS is championed by the Coordinating  Ministry for  Maritime Affairs, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The AIS provides a platform for government to engage and collaborate with all stakeholders – private sector, civil society, and academia, on climate change-themed and ocean protection initiatives.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, in an opening address as read by Indonesian Coordinating Affairs Minister on Maritime Sovereignty, Mr Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, reiterates his country’s strong commitment to forge concrete cooperation on climate actions.

“Indonesia also avails itself to share its expertise in climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster management, mangrove and coral reef restoration,” said Mr Pandjaitan whose Ministry has been spearheading the establishment of the Forum.

“The forum should serve as an avenue for knowledge sharing, enabling smart and innovative solution to flow and be scaled up and replicated across various concerned actors. It should be the forum that encourages business engagement and innovative financial solution to fund climate change projects and achieve sustainable development goals,” said Mr Pandjaitan.

In his usual reference to pop culture, Mr. Widodo called on the delegates to embody the spirit of Moana. A Polynesian child hero made famous by animated movie maker, Disney.

“We should be re-describing ourselves following the true value of our culture. We should be the Moana, a charming young girl who is resourceful-innovative-good spirit and optimist who is seeking to resolve the problems within her borders and beyond, he added.

Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelagic nation, has also been taking a leadership role for the establishment of new financing mechanism to support climate change initiative and development projects within the AIS.

Under the Manado Declaration, members of AIF agree to 1) strengthen commitment to be part of a collaborative action to address (a) climate change mitigation, adaptation, and disaster management; (b) economic challenges and opportunities which consist of blue economy, responsible and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, economic growth and creation of decent working opportunities; (c) marine plastic debris; and (d) good maritime governance; 2) Identify and work towards actionable, concrete collaboration and partnerships with all relevant stakeholders, through smart and innovative solutions, supported by blended finance mechanism,; 3) Encourage the development of to an integrated approach to maritime and ocean governance 4) Establish AIS Forum as an open-ended, complementary, integrated, and inclusive developmental forum

UNDP Indonesia Country Director, Christophe Bahuet said that the AIS Forum will make contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and will help ensure that vulnerable islands countries are not left behind.

“The AIS Forum initiative will focus on practical development solutions and will therefore open new opportunities for small and vulnerable archipelagic island states to find innovative ways in protecting  ocean resources whilst also improving livelihoods,” said Bahuet adding “Innovative financing is an important dimension of the initiative and UNDP Indonesia will help access new  mechanisms such as blended finance, Islamic finance, and green bonds, for projects under the AIS Forum”

With rising sea levels due to global warming, archipelagic and island states - particularly the small ones - are among the most vulnerable to climate change effects.

Delegates from 20 countries including Cuba, Comoro Island, Cyprus, Fiji, Guinea Bissau, Indonesia, Jamaica, Madagascar, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Timor Leste and the United Kingdom attended the AIS Ministerial Forum

Media contacts
Ministry of Maritime Affairs Sovereignty, Media Team.
UNDP Indonesia, Abdul Situmorang,
UNDP Indonesia Communication Specialist, Tomi Soetjipto
Suryo.tomi@undp.org