Seychelles got the attention of the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) industrial nations today when President Danny Faure addressed them on the islands' innovative financing for the blue economy and ocean sustainability. This year's G7 chair Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada had invited President Faure and the leaders of 10 other island and developing countries to join France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States at a special session on 'healthy, productive and resilient oceans and seas, coasts and communities'. Speaking at the outreach session in the Quebec resort town of Charlevoix, President Faure also called on Mr Trudeau and Canada to play a "prominent and proactive" role in high seas negotiations that begin at the United Nations in New York this September. "Our ocean is our pathway to prosperity," Mr Faure told leaders of the seven richest western nations as he talked about the Seychelles' blue economy roadmap and marine spatial plan.When Seychelles graduated to a high-income country in 2015, instead of complaining about losing grant funding, it turned to pioneering new innovative sources of financing such as a first-of-its-kind debt swap for ocean conservation and climate adaptation, and the forthcoming and equally novel blue bonds.

Source: AllAfrica