The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), hosted the 1^st ‘Blue Talks’ meeting in New Delhi today. The meeting was co-partnered by the Embassy of France and Embassy of Costa Rica in India. More than 50 participants from government, academia and research institutes witnessed the in-person, high level deliberations on matters related to ‘Ocean Health and Governance’. 

The meeting was jointly co-chaired by the Secretary, MoES Dr. M. Ravichandran, along with the Ambassador of France to India, Mr. Thierry Mathou, and Costa Rica Chargée d'affaires, Ms. Sofia Salas Monge.

This meeting is a forerunner to the upcoming High-Level Event on Ocean Action (HLEOA) event ‘Immersed in Change’ scheduled to be held on 7^th-8^th June, 2024 in San Jose, Costa Rica. On a larger perspective, ‘HLEOA’ is a precursor event to gather recommendations and visions for the upcoming United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3).

The core aim of the 1^st Blue Talks meeting were to i) to exchange good practices and successful experiences on topics related to the governance and health of the ocean, ii) to seek recommendations and inputs from various stakeholders, both governmental and non-governmental, iii) to reflect and to feed into the preparation of UNOC3 and iv) to seek specific implementation actions in order to address the concerns over the ocean’s health.

The 2-hour meeting comprised of three sections. In the first session the Costa Rican embassy showcased a movie on the purpose of the upcoming ‘HLEOA’ event.  The second session comprised of three technical talks on different themes, followed by the open discussion session on Ocean matters. The last concluding session summarized the key recommendations and way forward for the future ocean event.

The meeting has proved to be a successful platform to showcase India’s commitment in context of the UNOC3 2025.  India plays a pivotal role in the field of ocean science and maritime development, through aligning its programmes and policies with the global commitment to ensure sustainable harnessing of marine resources. Further, MoES, India has been recognized as a lead partner for the upcoming Ocean Conference in Nice, in 2025. India looks forward to a close cooperation with France and Costa Rica to prepare for this important global event.

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