According to a recent statement, 102 environmental organizations, led by Seas At Risk, BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, Oceana, Surfrider Foundation Europe and WWF are launching the “Blue Manifesto.” Namely, the rescue plan outlines concrete actions that must be delivered by set dates with the aim to “turn the tide on the ever-degraded and polluted ocean and coastlines.”
The U.S Coast Guard along with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography collaborated and launched the Blue Technology Center of Expertise (COE), which will focus on the research and the use of the blue technology. The center is located on the Scripps Oceanography campus in San Diego, while the ribbon-cutting ceremony was on Friday 24 January, 2020.
Ocean Energy Systems (OES), an intergovernmental collaboration between countries to advance energy research, issued its annual report for 2018 noting that ocean energy progresses at a policy level within a global energy market that is seeing significant change, while the imperative and drivers for renewable energy continue to increase.
A smarter management of wild fisheries and sustainable development of marine aquaculture (mariculture) could enable the ocean to supply over six times more food than it does today, while helping restore the health of ocean ecosystems, a new report by the High-Level Panel on a Sustainable Ocean Economy argues.
The European Union will announce 22 new commitments for better governance of the oceans, on the sidelines of the 2019 Our Ocean conference. The EU is also launching ‘The Ocean Tracker’, an interactive map to follow the over 10 billion euros commitments already made.
The Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the KfW Group on behalf of the German Federal Government highlighted the development achieved concerning the Clean Oceans Initiative during the IMF/World Bank Group meetings. The partners also welcomed the Spanish Promotional Bank ICO and its commitment to join the initiative.
A federal judge urged Carnival to work faster, in order to mitigate ocean pollution problems, that the company has caused. Namely, during a hearing in Miami, US District Judge Patricia Seitz noted that more concrete actions and less promises are needed from Carnival.
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report highlights the urgency to prioritize timely, ambitious and coordinated action to address unprecedented and enduring changes in the ocean and cryosphere. The report also reveals the benefits of ambitious and effective adaptation for sustainable development and the increasing costs and risks of delayed action.
With the ocean absorbing vast quantities of heat, increased concentrations of GHG are reported in the atmosphere, mainly from fossil fuel consumption. In fact, the Fifth Assessment Report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2013 indicated that the ocean had absorbed over 93% of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions since the 1970s. This is leading ocean temperatures to increase.
One of the biggest challenges that the global marine research is currently facing is the lack of knowledge. In comparison to the innovation and research that takes place on land, data-driven marine research is far behind. The fact is that there are several smaller data initiatives and platforms in the world today, but not an all-encompassing platform combining it all. The Ocean Data Platform is an initiative aiming to change this.
