Jamaica Bids to Host Our Ocean Conference

Minister of Water, Environment, and Climate Change, Hon. Matthew Samuda, has announced that Jamaica is submitting a bid to host the Our Ocean Conference in Montego Bay, St. James, next year.

The annual Conference convenes governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the private sector and the academic community to identify action-based solutions and make tangible commitments to address key ocean issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, food security and pollution.

It was first convened in Washington, United States, in 2014. The 11th edition of the Conference is scheduled to be held from June 16 to18, 2026 in Kenya.

Mr. Samuda shared Jamaica’s intention to bid to host the conference while addressing members of Jamaica’s diplomatic corps at a Ministerial Briefing on Wednesday (March 18), at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in Kingston.

He pointed out that Montego Bay is globally significant in ocean governance, primarily as the birthplace of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), often called the ‘Montego Bay Convention’, which established the legal framework for ocean activities.

“For us, returning to Montego Bay for this important environmental forum to look at how we sustainably grow the blue economy for all is a particularly important exercise,” Mr. Samuda affirmed.

Meanwhile, the Minister noted that Jamaica sees itself as an ocean state as its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is approximately 24 times its land mass.

“It is an incredible environmental asset that must be protected. Jamaica is pursuing the development of its sustainable ocean management plan, and we expect to complete that some time next year,” Mr. Samuda added.