If we don’t care about our oceans, we will wind up hurting ourselves more than we can imagine. The World Ocean Summit, a three-day event starting on the 24th February, tackles important ocean issues that affect us all.
How the Oceans Help Us
The ocean is not just beautiful but beneficial to us. Did you know the oceans provide half of our oxygen supply? They also provide food and livelihoods for millions of people on earth. Added to this, shipping is responsible for more than 90 per cent of global trade and biomedical products that are garnered from marine plant and animal sources offer us medicines to treat and fight illnesses. We need to start looking after the oceans in a better way and this is what the Ocean Summit is all about.
What to Expect
The World Ocean Summit, hosted by The Economist, unites hundreds of global leaders in various industries to to increase general understanding of the risks brought about by ocean degradation. Some of the speakers to attend the event include HSH Prince Albert II (Principality of Monaco); Sri Mulyani (World Bank Managing Director); Frits van Paasschen (chief executive officer of Starwood Hotels and Resorts); and John Kerry (US Secretary of State), to mention a few.
Governance and Sustainability
The issues of governance and sustainability are extremely important. Governance is critical for our seas because we are in need of rules and legal protection for various activities that occur, such as shipping and fishing. Then there is the issue of sustainability, which also impacts on governance. We need to start using the sea more responsibly and key themes to be discussed include sustainable ways of managing fisheries as well as financing the move to a more sustainable ocean enterprise.
Get Involved!
Just because you’re not at the summit, it doesn’t mean you can’t get involved. Stay up-to-date with information as it happens and join the discussion on Twitter by typing in the hashtag #OceanSummit.
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