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Last September, we gathered during the United Nations General Assembly week in New York to launch a first-of-its-kind financing mechanism that ensures an inclusive, equitable, and scalable approach to protecting and sustainably managing 100% of the island of Niue’s ocean territory.
We are now thrilled to share that Niue's Ocean Conservation Commitments (OCCs) have won the Nature category in the prestigious Fast Company World Changing Ideas Awards! We congratulate the Government of Niue and our local partners, Tofia Niue and the NOW Trust, on this incredible and well-deserved recognition.
While critical for both climate and biodiversity, ocean conservation can often be expensive. And for a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) like Niue, where the square kilometers of ocean outnumber the human population by almost 75-to-1, supporting the ongoing management and protection of so much marine territory is a significant financial challenge. The OCC sponsorship structure ensures an equitable and scalable approach to protecting and managing 100% of a nation’s ocean territory for the next two decades.
Each sponsorship is US$148 (NZD $250), with 127,000 OCCs available and stewarded by a local nonprofit called Niue Ocean Wide. When fully funded, the initiative would raise approximately $19.2 million, which Niue can use to build teams and operations, enforce policies, engage the community, and conduct marine research.
“It’s exciting to see the project recognized for its ingenuity and potential, and I hope it will bring more international attention to the 110 thousand OCCs still available for sponsorship,” said Maël Imirizaldu, Senior Regional Program Officer at the Blue Nature Alliance within Conservation International’s Center for Oceans. Imirizaldu supported the development and launch of the program alongside the NOW Trust and OCCs architects Coral Pasisi and Brendon Pasisi, President of Tofia Niue and Project Manager of the NOW Project and NOW Trust administration, respectively. The President of the NOW Trust is Hon. Dalton Tagelagi, who is also the current Premier of Niue and ocean protection champion in the region.
Fast Company’s Spring 2024 issue (on newsstands Tuesday, May 21) will profile the project in greater detail, including insights from Imirizaldu and the NOW Trust team and updates on the project’s progress, now six months along. The OCCs concept also received an honorable mention in the World Changing Ideas Awards’ Water category.
Learn more about this initiative: Niue Ocean Conservation Commitments Win Fast Company’s 2024 World Changing Ideas Award for Nature Category