Will cooperate with FAO to regulate unauthorised fishing: PM

Amid claiming that President Maithripala Sirisena has signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka will give its fullest cooperation to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's international efforts to stop unauthorized and non-regulatory fishing activities worldwide.

Addressing the UN Ocean Conference at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, coinciding with World Oceans Day, the Prime Minister said it was time to the Buddha’s teaching on how to protect the environment.

He said during the past 72 years, the UN had done tremendous work to protect the world peace and development and that the current problems would be solved from the steps we take to protect the environment today and through that we should be able to build a brighter future.

Co-chaired by Fiji and Sweden, the Conference aims to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal-14: Conserve and use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.