I was in Halifax, Canada to moderate seven sessions at Economist Impact's World Ocean Tech and Innovation Summit, including sessions on blue economy resilience, innovation alliances, changes in the Arctic, blue carbon to mitigate climate change, and big data and predictive analytics. We also announced the winners of the World Ocean Initiative’s Ocean Changemakers Challenge.

World Maritime Day is celebrated in September to focus attention on the importance of shipping and other maritime activities. It provides an opportunity to reflect on how the shipping industry can play a critical role in leveraging ‘greener’ innovations towards solving decarbonisation challenges.

I moderated the session “How Can We Develop Blue Economy Opportunities?” at the Virtual Island Summit 2022, organised by Island Innovation. Following an opening keynote by Dr Keith Mitchell, former prime minister of Grenada, I was joined by four excellent panellists.

I have been attending World Water Week in Stockholm this week. Today is the final day, and I will be speaking during the closing panel on “What’s Next?”. I will talk about the latest trends when it comes to innovation and societal transformations, drawing on research from Economist Impact and the World Ocean Initiative.

I‘m attending World Water Week in Stockholm this week. Today I will be speaking as part of the talk show “From words into action: Financing from source to sea”. I will be joined by Ruth Mathews, senior manager at SIWI (Stockholm International Water Institute) and moderator Eric Paglia of KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

International Youth Day is observed each year on August 12th. This month Economist Impact's World Ocean Initiative celebrates past winners of our Ocean Changemakers Challenge. These young talents are all working on solutions for a sustainable blue economy.

The World Ocean Initiative team was on the ground last month at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon and the UN World Oceans Day events in New York. Read more for an overview of recent coverage from the World Ocean Initiative.

Today I moderated a panel discussion on “Security of subsea data cables and marine protected areas", organised by the Atlantic Centre, SafeSeas, the University of Copenhagen and the Institute for Security Studies (Pretoria). This was an official side event of the UN Ocean Conference.

I was interviewed for BBC World's World Business Report on the latest developments at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon.

I’m at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon this week. Today I moderated a session on “Unlocking Corporate Blue Finance” in the SDG Media Zone.

For World Oceans Day I moderated a World Ocean Summit Insight Hour on ocean innovation. The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-30) has started. However, the UN Sustainable Development Goals on life below water (SDG14) remains the most underfunded goal. The ocean needs innovative, passionate leaders to drive the sustainable blue economy.

Today is World Oceans Day! Economist Impact’s World Ocean Initiative is a media partner of the United Nations World Oceans Day. Following a presentation on “The value of a living ocean” by Ralph Chami, I moderated the in-person panel discussion on “A Revitalized Ocean Economy” at UN Headquarters in New York.

Building a sustainable ocean economy requires all hands on deck. Read more for an overview of recent coverage and events on blue innovation and tech by the World Ocean Initiative.

This week I will be joining 6,000+ islanders from around the world at the Island Finance Forum organised by Island Innovation. Following an opening keynote by His Excellency Surangel Whipps Jr, President, Republic of Palau, I will moderate a session on "Building a Blue Future: Harnessing the Hope of the Ocean".

Just 1.2% of seafarers are women. In March we mark International Women’s Day and Gender Equality month as an opportunity to reflect on the deep gender divides and inequalities that exist across ocean industries, while celebrating the (often undervalued) contributions of women towards the burgeoning blue economy.

The 2022 World Ocean Summit focused on achieving 2030 goals. 174 speakers engaged the audience with tangible solutions, real-life examples and action-oriented strategies to achieve these goals. We have heard about action beyond ambition, and strategies to achieve commitments.

Economist Impact’s World Ocean Summit started today! On Day 1 I moderated a plenary panel discussion on connecting the silos for a healthy ocean. We explored the big picture for ocean regeneration, and how collaboration between government, industry, investors, scientists and NGOs can bring it about.

I will be moderating four sessions and three roundtables at Economist Impact's World Ocean Summit Virtual Week starting tomorrow, March 1st, on great topics such as ocean regeneration, the outlook for seaweed, data for ocean investment, and the prospects for a high seas treaty. The World Ocean Initiative will publish regular updates during the week.

Next week, from March 1st-4th the 9th annual World Ocean Summit Virtual Week will gather more than 150 leading expert speakers, including John Kerry, US special presidential envoy for climate, and 5,000 attendees to discuss what needs to be done to achieve 2030 targets for the ocean. 

To deliver on global sustainability goals—the theme of this year’s World Ocean Summit—and unlock the true potential of the ocean economy, we need to foster blue skills within and across disciplines. This month we celebrate International Day of Education and what it means for the ocean community.