The President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, in his speech at the opening of the third United Nations Conference on the Oceans, in Nice, France, assured that the country will continue to be “a loud voice and a committed partner” in the process of protecting the oceans.

"Guinea-Bissau will spare no effort to continue to be an audible voice and a committed partner in building a future where the oceans are protected and coastal communities valued, and marine biodiversity preserved, as the common heritage of humanity ," he declared.

The Guinean President said that the country relies on the support of the international community for a "just transformation," believing that "no country can succeed alone" in the face of the challenges of protecting the oceans.

"That is why international cooperation must continue to be a central pillar of our actions, with particular emphasis on the sharing of knowledge and the transfer of marine technology ," stressed the Guinean head of state.

Embaló stressed that he is participating in the Nice conference “with pleasure”, at a time when “humanity is faced with an existential challenge: preserving the integrity of the oceans or compromising the common future of the (…) planet”.

"Guinea-Bissau, a coastal and archipelagic country located in West Africa with a maritime territory composed of more than 88 islands and islets, directly feels the impacts of the degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems, climate change, as well as the loss of biodiversity ," he stressed.

The Guinean President listed a series of ongoing actions and others already carried out by the country's authorities to preserve biodiversity, which, he said, not only benefits the country's population but also humanity itself.

In this regard, Embaló mentioned the possibility of the Bijagós archipelago being considered a World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.