The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Georgios Gerapetritis, addressed the audience at the event titled “Our Ocean Countdown, Greece 2024: An Ocean of Potential,” held at the Wilson Center in Washington, a think tank affiliated with the US Congress. Gerapetritis underlined that “the oceans constitute the lifeblood of our planet and are fundamental to life on Earth.”
Gerapetritis engaged on Friday, in talks with John Kerry and outlined the focal points of the 9th Our Ocean Conference scheduled for April 16th and 17th in Athens. Additionally, he underscored Greece’s endeavors to tackle climate change. Greece has designated climate, peace, and security as key priorities in its bid for election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the term 2025-2026.
“It’s been 10 years since the first Our Ocean Conference was organized following your initial idea. An idea that inspired the international community as a whole and created a new results-oriented model that should serve as the basis for all climate change action,” said Gerapetritis.
Regarding the International Ocean Conference to be hosted in Athens Kerry expressed his excitement to participate. “Personally, I am looking forward to attending the Youth Summit because we need to engage the younger generation in this effort,” he said.
It is worth noting that Kerry is the founder of the “Our Ocean Conference” initiative which was implemented when he was head of the State Department, as well as the special envoy of President Joe Biden for climate change.
