Environment
Meeting between Prime Minister TAKAICHI and representatives attending the Island States Ocean Summit
(Photo: Cabinet Public Affairs Office)
(Photo: Cabinet Public Affairs Office)
On June 2, commencing at 2:30 p.m. for approximately 30 minutes, Ms. TAKAICHI Sanae, Prime Minister of Japan, held a meeting with the following representatives attending the Island States Ocean Summit: H.E. Mr. Surangel S. Whipps, Jr., President of Palau; H.E. Dr. Hilda C. Heine, President of the Marshall Islands; H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway; Hon. Mr. Mark Brown, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands; and Hon. Mr. Feleti Penitala Teo, Prime Minister of Tuvalu. Also present were Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, Honorary Chair of the Nippon Foundation, as a representative of the conference organizer; Mr. Vidar Helgesen, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, as a representative of the co-organizer; and H.E. Mr. Peter Thomson, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean.
- At the outset, Prime Minister TAKAICHI extended a warm welcome to the representatives and expressed high appreciation for the efforts of the Nippon Foundation as organizer and also expressed gratitude for the cooperation of UNESCO as co-organizer and Palau President Whipps as co-chair in convening the Island States Ocean Summit, which brings together more than 300 participants from approximately 30 countries and organizations, focusing on island states to discuss ocean-related issues.
- Prime Minister TAKAICHI also noted that island states, including Japan, are deeply dependent on the marine environment in their daily lives, and that cooperation with like-minded countries is indispensable in addressing climate change and ocean-related issues. In addition, the Prime Minister underscored that Japan has long been committed to international cooperation in the maritime domain and emphasized that the rule of law at sea remains one of the key pillars of the evolved "Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)" vision announced last month.
- In response, Mr. Sasakawa, Honorary Chair of the Nippon Foundation, stated that he has organized this summit to openly discuss the challenges island states face and to help share their voices with the international community, and expressed his hope that these perspectives would be broadly shared. He also expressed his appreciation to the Prime Minister’s continued support and cooperation with island states. Following his remarks, the participants expressed their gratitude for Japan's commitment to supporting island states in addressing global challenges and conveyed their desire to further develop and strengthen cooperation with Japan going forward.