Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of the Sustainable Development Goal 44 for Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries.

The Call For Action, agreed at the recent UN Ocean Conference on Sustainable Development Goal 14, outlines a number of potential benefits for Small Island Development States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) https://oceanconference.un.org/callforaction. In addition, a register of voluntary commitments on the conference website lists 541 commitments that relate specifically to SDG14 target A, which is of particular relevance to SIDS and LDCs. This includes the UK’s Commonwealth Marine Economies Programme which in 2017 will deliver: Maritime Economy reports for each SIDS, a Climate Change report for the Caribbean, hydrographic charting, data collection and seabed habitat mapping around Grenada and St Vincent & the Grenadines, and the provision of novel technology.

https://oceanconference.un.org/commitments/?id=19609

Further details on the benefits to SIDS and LDCs in relation to this specific funding programme will be available as the programme continues.