Conference | Virtual Ocean Dialogues 2020: Connecting Communities for Ocean Resilience, Innovation and Action
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Conference
A global online conference for ocean action, the Virtual Ocean Dialogues will connect communities across the world that are seeking innovation and taking bold action for a healthy, resilient, thriving ocean.
The rapid global spread of COVID-19 is posing unprecedented challenges and uncertainty, with large conferences and gatherings being postponed for reasons of health and safety and with global mobility drastically curtailed. As a result, our way of life and doing business are changing. Yet once beyond this pandemic, the ocean will be one of our greatest allies in economic recovery, food security, jobs and the battle against climate change.
The World Economic Forum and Friends of Ocean Action, a group of 57 global leaders fast-tracking scalable solutions to the most pressing challenges facing the ocean, are curating the Virtual Ocean Dialogues to convene leaders and communities online from across the global ocean space. Designed in collaboration with a range of other partners, the Virtual Ocean Dialogues will maintain momentum in the face of COVID-19 to continue working for ambitious and urgent global action for a healthy ocean.
“During these difficult times, the Virtual Ocean Dialogues are being created in order to maintain positive momentum in global efforts to better protect and manage the resources of the ocean,” said Ambassador Peter Thomson, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, and Co-Chair of Friends of Ocean Action. “Now more than ever, humanity needs a healthy, thriving ocean to protect our communities and build resilience against future crises.”
The Virtual Ocean Dialogues will be open to anyone committed to ocean action, bringing an enhanced dimension of inclusivity and interactivity to these critical conversations. The Dialogues will offer a unique opportunity to connect and exchange ideas with global and local leaders alike across the ocean space, from ministers and business executives to academics, local communities and young change-makers. The Virtual Ocean Dialogues will feature a series of panels on key challenges facing the ocean, with high-level global speakers and opportunities to participate in engaging breakout conversations.
Priority topics to be covered include enabling a resilient ocean, how to stem the tide of marine pollution, sustainable food from the ocean, ocean data and science, marine protection and conservation of biodiversity, sustainably and equitably managing the high seas, ocean risk and more. The Dialogues will have a razor-sharp focus on bringing to light ambitious and inspiring solutions as well as tangible opportunities for positive change.
The Virtual Ocean Dialogues will also see the launch of UpLink, a digital platform to crowdsource innovations that will accelerate progress on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals – the first focus of which is the ocean and SDG 14. UpLink’s core objective is to link up the best solutions and ideas with networks of decision-makers and influencers to catalyse ideas into scalable action.
Original source: World Economic Forum
Published on 18 May 2020