The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation was one of 17 philanthropic foundations that have signed on to The Bouknadel Statement. This joint statement was launched on the occasion of the 2022 United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, to raise awareness for the need to increase investment in ocean science to support sustainable development.

The Foundations Dialogue of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development — an informal, global network of community, corporate, and private foundations that have chosen to work together to support the vision of the Ocean Decade — today launched The Bouknadel Statement affirming their commitment to investing in transformative ocean science. The Statement was launched during an event celebrating the Ocean Decade during the 2022 UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon.

The Statement recognizes the central role of the ocean in human health, safety, and wellbeing, and encourages the philanthropic community to increase their support of marine science and conservation. Via the statement, the group of foundations that make up the Foundations Dialogue recognize their unique role in supporting the co-design and communication of ocean science. The foundations also highlight the need for the philanthropic community to develop new and innovative partnerships and tools to meet the ambitious goals of the Ocean Decade.

The Bouknadel Statement was the result of discussions of the Foundations Dialogue over several months in 2021 and 2022 that culminated in a meeting in Sidi Bouknadel, Morocco, in June 2022 at the Hassan II International Center for Environmental Training, the academic branch of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, presided over by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, Patron of the Ocean Decade Alliance. The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation participated in these meetings and is proud to be a signatory of The Bouknadel Statement.

Learn more here.

Read the full statement here.