COS at Ocean Visions 2021 Summit: Global Dialogues about Ocean-Based Solutions
2021 marks the beginning of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, a global effort to ensure that ocean science more effectively informs solutions. Ocean health is vital to a sustainable climate system: The ocean produces over half of the world’s oxygen and helps regulate the climate by absorbing carbon dioxide. And yet, ocean health has declined in recent decades due to challenges like climate change, ocean acidification, plastic pollution, and overfishing. Members of the COS team are joining the effort to find long-lasting and equitable solutions to these urgent challenges.
“To address the most pressing ocean challenges, like climate change, sea level rise, and overfishing, we need solutions that support both ocean health and human benefits. With the start of the Ocean Decade, we have an opportunity to bring scientists, engineers, policy makers, business and civil society together to build an ecosystem capable to developing and implementing ocean solutions at scale.” — Fiorenza Micheli, COS Co-Director
On May 18-21, 2021, the Ocean Visions 2021 Summit “Towards a Global Ecosystem for Ocean Solutions” will bring together a multidisciplinary group of problem-solvers. From researchers to innovators, decision-makers, funders, and more, this community aims to develop roadmaps for solving ocean challenges. The summit will be held virtually on the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus and on remote campuses in Hobart, Australia, Cape Town, South Africa, Mindelo, Cabo Verde, and Kiel, Germany.
“Ocean Vision’s mission is to “mobilize a diverse community of problem-solvers working together to tackle the most pressing challenges facing the ocean.” Our Summit highlights all the work we are doing to build this diverse community and apply it towards solving the most pressing challenges facing the ocean. I am most excited about the energy and enthusiasm that this Summit will build among a global community of ocean problem solvers to accelerate solutions from the laboratory into the water.” — David Koweek, Ocean Visions Fellow
Members of the COS team have spent months planning for the virtual Summit. Now, the team looks to join a global community of participants to catalyze meaningful conversations about ocean-climate solutions. Register, explore the full Summit schedule or learn more about COS team sessions and events below!
SESSION 1: Accelerating the Ocean's Power to Sequester Carbon & Reverse Climate Disruption | Co-Chair: Ocean Visions Fellow David Koweek
“Session 1 will highlight the work that Ocean Visions is doing to accelerate the development and testing of ocean-based carbon dioxide removal technologies. Carbon dioxide removal is increasingly realized as an imperative to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, both on land and in the ocean. In this session, we will hear from inventors, entrepreneurs, lawyers, philanthropists and more working at the forefront of this field to assess how much of a role the ocean can play in cleaning up the carbon pollution in our atmosphere. We will also debut technology road maps we have been building to accelerate progress in this field. This is the culmination of a year’s work to build a global community interested in accelerating development of ocean-based carbon dioxide removal technologies. It is Ocean Visions’ first project and we are excited to share it.” — David Koweek
SESSION 3A: Healthy Ocean – Healthy People | Co-Chairs: Co-Director Fiorenza Micheli, Early Career Fellow Michelle Tigchelaar and Staff Scientist Collin Closek
“The health of our ocean is intimately tied to the health of all people — be it as a source of nutritious food, a place for recreation, a resource for pharmaceuticals but also a risk for contaminants. In this session, I’m excited to learn from practitioners around the world how they are protecting the health of communities through ocean stewardship and to see what lessons we might learn from each other.” — Michelle Tigchelaar
“Our work at COS on sustainable ocean economies, blue foods, and advanced technologies for assessing supply chains and biodiversity directly connects the health of our ocean to all of us. Our Ocean Visions session will spotlight other efforts being made around the world and provide blueprints for how these important connections can be made elsewhere. Ultimately, the session aims to highlight the links, needs, and methods to scale approaches that improve both the health of our ocean and the health of people - all of us - who depend on the ocean in countless ways.” — Collin Closek
Conversations on Ocean Solutions with Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPs) | Co-Lead Facilitator: Hoffmann Fellow Alfredo Giron-Nava
“We want to highlight the role that education and empowerment of the next generation of ocean leaders have for the design and deployment of solutions. In this session, we want to ask the ECOP community of Ocean Visions, how can we support you to innovate and deliver on those great ideas?” — Alfredo Giron-Nava