Ocean Justice Organization, Azul, Issues Statement on the Release of the Nation’s First-Ever Ocean Justice Strategy
For Immediate Release
December 11, 2023
Media Contacts
Betsy López-Wagner, López-Wagner Strategies, Betsy@equitablecomms.com, 708-717-9408
Maeve Stewart, López-Wagner Strategies, Maeve@equitablecomms.com, 650-714-9583
Ocean Justice Organization, Azul, Issues Statement on the Release of the Nation’s First-Ever Ocean Justice Strategy
The Ocean Justice Strategy was Unveiled by White House During COP28 in Dubai
San Diego, California (December 11, 2023) – The following is a statement from Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, Founder and Executive Director of Azul, and a member of the Ocean Justice Forum’s Steering Committee, on the Biden-Harris Administration’s release of the first U.S. Ocean Justice Strategy:
“The release of the Ocean Justice Strategy recognizes decades of work by ocean advocates while incorporating many priorities identified by frontline and ocean justice communities. Our ocean is the lifeblood of our planet – we must protect it to realize environmental justice, heal our waters and communities, and the sustenance and joy our ocean provides. Azul has been on the frontlines of advocating for the Biden-Harris Administration to prioritize our ocean. With this Ocean Justice Strategy, we see a strong foundation that will serve as the building blocks to addressing the issues plaguing our ocean and the communities that depend on it – as well as advancing a just 30×30 strategy and global plastics treaty.”
Related: A recent first-of-its-kind National Latinos and the Ocean poll, conducted by Barreto Segura Partners (BSP) Research, for Azul affirms Latino environmental values and stewardship for the ocean – timely given the Administration’s Ocean Justice Strategy release. The poll found the U.S. Latino segment of the country’s electorate is strongly committed to reducing harms to the ocean, seeking government intervention to protect the ocean and support the prevention of plastic pollution, curbing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, and they’re willing to see the nation pay more – and are even willing to pay more themselves – to advance ocean justice. Read remarks by Dr. Jane Lubchenco, as shared by the White House, at Azul’s 2022 poll briefing.
• 86% of U.S. Latinos believe the government has a responsibility to preserve the ocean and public lands for the enjoyment of future generations
• 96% cited environmental issues like pollution and global warming as personally important
• 92% Latinx voters support doing more to prevent plastic pollution
• 72% of respondents from Spanish-speaking households cited environmental issues as being very important to them compared to only 51% of English-speaking household respondents
• 89% of U.S. Latinos believe in protecting the environment as a means of protecting their communities
Read what movement leaders, like Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, and allies have to say about the Ocean Justice Strategy, here.
In case you missed it: Latin American leaders, including Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, issued the following statement at the conclusion of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution’s Third Session in Nairobi, Kenya just last month as 160 nations came together to negotiate a global plastics treaty. Work will continue in Ottawa, Canada in April 2024 ahead of a global goal of establishing a treaty by the end of 2024.
Related Resource: Neglected: Environmental Justice Impacts of Plastic Pollution, a United Nations Environment Programme and Azul report, demonstrates how the entire life cycle of plastics – from source extraction to waste – disproportionately affects marginalized communities and poses obstacles to the full and timely achievement of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.) Report in English and Spanish.
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Azul is a Latinx-led and serving ocean justice organization. It was founded in 2011 to bring Latinx perspectives and participation to ocean conservation and has long advocated for environmental justice and equity at international, national level in the U.S., as well as in the state of California. Learn more at www.azul.org.