At the Ocean Conference, many delegations stressed that effective follow-up will be critical to ensuring that all nations are working together to meet their SDG14 implementation obligations, inclusive of science, business and civil society. Following the conclusion of the Conference, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Ambassador Peter Thomson of Fiji as his Special Envoy for the Ocean, aiming at galvanizing concerted efforts to follow up on the outcomes of the United Nations (UN) Ocean Conference in support of implementing SDG 14 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, maintaining the momentum for action to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

Mr. Thomson will lead UN's advocacy and public outreach efforts inside and outside of the UN system, ensuring that the many positive outcomes of The Ocean Conference, including the over 1400 voluntary commitments, are fully analysed and implemented. He will also work with civil society, the scientific community, the private sector, and other relevant stakeholders, to coalesce and encourage their activities in support of the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14.

Mr. Thomson brings a distinguished experience in diplomatic services and is familiar with the work of the United Nations, including as Permanent Representative of Fiji to the UN and President of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, during which he provided visionary leadership in guiding the preparation of The Ocean Conference.

Elected President of the Assembly of the International Seabed Authority's 2011-2012 session and President of the Council of the Authority's 2015-2016 session, Mr. Thomson chaired the Group of 77 and China (2013) and served as President of the Executive Board of UN Development Programme/UN Population Fund/UN Office for Programme Support (UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS) from 2014 to 2015. As a civil servant in the Government of Fiji, he devoted many years of his life to working in the fields of rural development and then foreign affairs.

• OECD: Sea change: a talk with UN Special Envoy for the Ocean, Peter Thomson, April 2019
• Spring Meetings 2019 Global Voices: Interview with Amb. Thomson, Facebook Live, 13 April 2019
• Underwater mountains, deep craters and lost shipwrecks could be discovered thanks to $3 BILLION project to map every part of the Earth's ocean floor (Daily Mail)
• North Atlantic Seafood Forum Round-Up: Radical salmon farming concepts; Mowi name change; fishmeal predictions (IntraFish)
• UN Special Envoy for the Ocean calls for halt to fishing subsidies (RNZ)
• Large-scale intervention in climate system not a magic wand for global warming (Irish Times)
• Commitment by the Special Envoy at the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi, Kenya on 26-28 November 2018
• Why the Ocean is Important in Climate Action? Find out here.
• NBC video: Waves of trash have washed up on shores across the globe. As the world's waters get more clogged with pollution, experts say human habits are to blame.
• Chair's Conclusions, Second Oceans Forum on Trade-related aspects of SDG14
• "The Imperative of Action", Special Envoy for the Ocean, Ambassador Peter Thomson's contribution to the COFI 33 Special Edition Newsletter of the Regional Fishery Body Secretariats' Network
• Statement to FAO's Committee on Fisheries (COFI) by UNSG's Special Envoy for the Ocean, Ambassador Peter Thomson, Rome, 9 July 2018
• High Seas, What's at Stake? 21 June 2018 | Paris, France. Summary and keynote by UN Special Envoy for the Ocean