Former President of Costa Rica (94-98), Jose Maria Figueres, took part in the World Ocean Summit in Cancun, Mexico at the beginning of March, in his position as co-president of the Pacific Ocean Assembly, an organization aimed at uniting Latin American countries around the goal of ocean conservation, and also as co-chair of Ocean Unite (along side Richard Branson).

Figueres emphasized in an interview the importance of understanding illegal fishing as an activity that not only harms the oceans but that also goes hand-in-hand with smuggling.

“This illegal activity, in addition to damaging the ocean and over-fishing species, comes with other illicit activities, such as arms, human and drug trafficking,”

Figueres said that people engaged in clandestine fishing – a business that generates $23.5 billion a year – tend to pursue other illegal activities to boost their income.

The former president of Costa Rica, also stressed out the importance of taking measures against climate change.
“Many countries still see the fight against climate change and the lowering of carbon emissions as a cost, instead of seeing it as the opportunity it represents,” Figueres said, adding that changing the environment paradigm would mean “a much more efficient green economy.”

“My fear is that we do not take advantage of this window of opportunity to make changes before it’s too late,” he said. “What greatly motivates me is that in all these transformations, I see great opportunities to re-launch the global economy.”

EFE