4 October 2021

The Crown Princess attends the 2021 Virtual Keystone Dialogue

On Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 October, The Crown Princess attended the 2021 Virtual Keystone Dialogue.

The Crown Princess attends the 2021 Virtual Keystone Dialogue from Haga Palace.

The Crown Princess attends the 2021 Virtual Keystone Dialogue from Haga Palace. Photo: The Royal Court of Sweden

SeaBOS aims to make the world's fishing industry more sustainable. The meeting was attended by representatives from the world's ten largest fishing and shellfish companies, as well as experts and researchers within the field.

The Crown Princess opened the meeting with a speech in which she highlighted SeaBOS's successes during the five years since the first dialogue, but also the challenges that remain:

Dear SeaBOS members: You are the front runners. And now, you need to maintain your lead. You need to prove to the world that it is actually possible to come together, as competitors, and transform a global industry. And when you do, I am hopeful that many others will follow in your footsteps.

HRH The Crown Princess

he 2021 Virtual Keystone Dialogue continued on Tuesday. The businesses and working parties reported on the progress of work to deliver on the time-bound objectives within different areas. The prioritised areas are IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing, antibiotic use, climate change and use of plastics.

The 2021 Virtual Keystone Dialogue concluded with The Crown Princess summing up the meeting:

Transforming a global industry is like climbing a very high mountain. There are great rewards for those who are brave enough to take the lead. But just like rock climbers secure their ropes, every step that SeaBOS takes needs to be firmly anchored in science.

HRH The Crown Princess

SeaBOS

SeaBOS (Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship) is an initiative that aims to lead a global transformation for sustainable fishing and seas, on a scientific basis.

The initiative was established in 2016. Its members are the world's ten biggest fishing and shellfish companies, which together control more than 10% of all the world's fishing.

The companies have undertaken to work with time-bound objectives and to focus on issues relating to antibiotic use, climate change and use of plastics, and to reduce IUU fishing within their supplier chains.

Each year, the companies hold a working meeting and a CEO-level meeting, known as the Keystone Dialogue. The work is guided by researchers from around the world, based at Stockholm University's Stockholm Resilience Centre.

The Keystone Dialogue

The Soneva Dialogue, held in the Maldives in November 2016, was the first CEO-level meeting.
Read The Crown Princess's speech at the Soneva Dialogue in the Maldives .

During The Crown Princess' visit to Japan in April 2017, a follow-up session on the Soneva Dialogue was held. Japanese fishing companies and experts were invited to a more informal dialogue held at the Swedish Embassy in Tokyo.
Read The Crown Princess's speech during her visit to Japan .

Keystone Dialogue 2 was held in Stockholm in May 2017, and resulted in deeper cooperation between companies. Read The Crown Princess's speech at the Keystone Dialogue 2

Keystone Dialogue 3 was held in Karuizawa, Japan in September 2018, where cooperation between fishing companies was developed further.
Read The Crown Princess's speech at the Keystone Dialogue 3 .

In October 2020, The Crown Princess took part in the 2020 Virtual Keystone Dialogue.
Read The Crown Princess's speech during the 2020 Virtual Keystone Dialogue

Digital working meetings

In May 2019, The Crown Princess attended SeaBOS's working meeting in Bergen, Norway. The meeting included discussions on issues such as IUU fishing, plastics in the ocean, the use of antibiotics and planning for Keystone Dialogue 4, which was held in Phuket, Thailand, in September 2019.
Read The Crown Princess's speech during the meeting in Bergen

In May 2020, The Crown Princess took part in SeaBOS's digital working meeting.
Read The Crown Princess's speech during the digital working meeting

In May 2021, The Crown Princess took part in SeaBOS's digital working meeting.
Read The Crown Princess's speech during the digital working meeting

The UN's Sustainable Development Goals

The Crown Princess’s commitment to environmental and climate-related issues led to the United Nation’s then Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointing the Crown Princess as one of 17 Advocates during 2016-2019 for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The Crown Princess is now Advocate Emerita for the Global Goals, in which she continues to focus, in particular, on sustainability, the sea and fishing.

In October 2023 the Crown Princess was named Goodwill Ambassador for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In her role as Goodwill Ambassador, the Crown Princess will work to increase awareness and engagement for the SDGs and a sustainable future where no one is left behind.

Find out more about the Global Goals and Agenda 2030 at the United Nations’ website