BTWC awarded at the SDG Awards

• Bermeo Tuna World Capital has been awarded in the PLANET category in the first edition of the SDG awards organised by Cadena SER and BBK Kuna.
• Out of 149 nominations, 5 entities have received the award in different categories: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Alliances.
• The awards ceremony will be held on 21 June in the Sala BBK, Bilbao.

The winners of the first edition of the SDG Awards, organised by Cadena SER Euskadi and BBK Kuna, in collaboration with Eusko Jaurlaritza, Bilboko Udala, Iberdrola and Zabalgarbi, have been announced.

BTWC presented the candidacy with its latest project, the Bermeo Tuna Forum, and the two major milestones or challenges that were presented and launched at the forum held on 2 and 3 May last:

• The presentation of the International Declaration for Tuna Sustainability. This document contains 15 commitments that address sustainability in its threefold dimension. Commitments to offer real options for responsible purchasing; that demand effective regulation and control in the exploitation and management of fisheries to avoid illegal practices; and that promote the defence of the highest international standards for the defence of human rights, decent work, inclusion and gender equality, among others.
• The signing of the World Tuna Cities Alliance: A pioneering agreement that brings together a total of 7 cities as different as Concarneau (France), Pago Pago (American Samoa), Victoria (Seychelles), Majuro (Marshall Islands), General Santos (Philippines), Manta (Ecuador) and Bermeo (Spain), and whose economic and social axis is tuna. A framework for collaboration between local governments that puts on the table the need to create synergies between public and private organisations through cooperation via international governance in order to make progress in the management and sustainable development of the oceans and the tuna sector throughout its value chain.

Our objective, aligned with the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda, is clear: to transform the tuna chain to make it sustainable and fair.

We are extremely grateful for this recognition to the organisers of these SDG awards, Cadena SER Euskadi and BBK Kuna, and of course, to all the people who believe in and work on our project, with a firm commitment to the health of the oceans and the sustainability of the fishing and tuna sector: colleagues, partner companies, colleagues from the profession ….. Eskerrik asko.

And ZORIONAK, Congratulations of course, to the rest of the award winners. We will see you at the awards ceremony on 21 June in Bilbao.