Featured: Read the new report on ocean and human health
Featured: Countries sign onto a joint declaration on ocean and climate action
However far we live from it, a healthy ocean is imperative to human health, from sourcing critical medication and nutritious diets, to providing new medicines and space for beneficial physical activity. The ocean holds largely unrecognised and unrealised potential to improve human health, support mental health and wellbeing, create economic opportunity and advance social justice. […]
The ocean regulates our climate and can significantly buffer the worst impacts of climate change, absorbing human-induced carbon dioxide emissions and heat from the atmosphere. However, the ocean is telling us enough is enough with sea surface temperatures breaking records, sea water becoming increasingly acidic, oxygen levels depleting and sea levels rising. These impacts are […]
With the urgent need for accelerated climate action to halt the worst impacts of climate change, the world’s coastlines offer a natural solution in ‘blue carbon’ ecosystems that can have an immediate impact. Blue carbon ecosystems such as mangrove forests, seagrass beds and tidal marshes are vital natural assets. Their importance in helping to mitigate […]
In December 2020, the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Ocean Panel) released its ‘Transformations for a Sustainable Ocean Economy: A Vision for Protection, Production and Prosperity’. One of the pillars of action within this ambitious roadmap for a sustainable ocean economy was for sustainable ocean-based tourism, establishing the goal that by 2030 […]
In 2020, the members of the Ocean Panel announced their shared ambition to sustainably manage 100% of ocean areas under their national jurisdiction by 2025, guided by Sustainable Ocean Plans. In addition, they urged all coastal and ocean states to join them in this commitment, so that by 2030 all ocean areas under national jurisdiction […]
‘Ocean Solutions that Benefit People, Nature and the Economy’ is a report commissioned by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy and written by SYSTEMIQ and the Ocean Panel Expert Group co-chairs in December 2020. It sets out to create a new narrative, paired with an ambitious and feasible action agenda, by drawing […]
The paper demonstrates the role insurance can play in accelerating the transition and how ocean-related subsidies contribute to or detract from the sustainable ocean economy. It recommends approaches to be phased out and new solutions that incentivise sustainable management. ‘Ocean Finance: Financing the Transition to a Sustainable Ocean Economy’ was launched through a webinar, ‘Financing […]
A healthy ocean is the foundation for vibrant economies. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, ocean-based industries were estimated to contribute 2.5 percent of world gross value added and over 31 million direct full-time jobs. However, as governments seek to reset and rebuild following the pandemic, the ocean economy has been overlooked in stimulus measures, especially when one considers the pandemic’s devastating impacts on workers and […]
Focusing on the institutions that affect access and rights, this paper addresses concerns about the appropriation of marine resources and displacement of indigenous visions for ocean governance by identifying ways these culturally distinct institutions are compatible and charting a path toward inclusive ocean governance. ‘The Human Relationship with Our Ocean Planet’ launched through a webinar on 8 […]
Criminal activity in the fisheries sector, which has concerned the international community for years, has become increasingly organised. Frequently transnational, such crime can manifest in a broad range of offences, the most common being economic crimes such as money laundering, fraud, forgery, tax and customs evasion, corruption and human trafficking. Anecdotal, scientific and case-based evidence […]
