Harness the changing tides to give the blue economy the green light
Members of the media are invited to register here.
The World Ocean Summit Asia-Pacific, the region’s leading conference on the marine economy, today announced the final speaker line-up for the 2022 event, which will run from Tuesday, November 29th to Wednesday, November 30th in Singapore.
The theme of the two-day event, organised by Economist Impact, is giving “blue solutions” the green light. Over 100 leading figures from across the ocean community, from business to science, government, investors, and civil society, will explore this year’s theme by looking at developments in shipping, finance, climate, energy, pollution, fishing, aquaculture, innovation and governance.
The summit could not be more timely following the strong mobilisation of the ocean community during COP27 in Egypt. This was reflected in the hosting of an Ocean Pavilion, the organisation of more than 300 ocean-related events, and the recognition of the fundamental role of the ocean in the climate system in several declarations. For the first time, the ocean was also addressed in a dedicated sub-section of the final decision.
More than 100 speakers are confirmed to speak including regional governments, and the global ocean community with senior executives from technology, finance, science, and civil society.
Speakers include:
- Surangel Whipps, Jr., president, Palau
- Vivian Balakrishnan, minister for foreign affairs, Singapore
- Sabra Noordeen, special envoy for climate change, Maldives
- Peter Thomson, UN secretary-general’s special envoy for the ocean
- Mari Pangestu, managing director, development policy and partnerships, World Bank
- Hoesung Lee, chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
- Esther An, chief sustainability officer, City Developments Limited
- Naoko Ishii, executive vice president and professor, University of Tokyo and Director, Center for Global Commons
- Rajeev Menon, president, Asia-Pacific, Marriott
- Theresa Mundita Lim, executive director, ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity
A full list of speakers can be found here.
The agenda will tackle the region’s important issues including:
- A blueprint for managing blue growth
- How to secure sustainable finance for the ocean
- The Asia Pacific’s energy transition
- Coastal solutions to climate change
- Technology to power a blue maritime sector
- President of Palau and other Pacific Island leaders on what’s needed to adapt and survive
- Building a circular plastics economy in the Asia-Pacific
- Asia Pacific’s role negotiating a global treaty on plastic pollution
Additional talks over the two days will explore IUU fishing surveillance; sustainable aquaculture, how to campaign effectively for the ocean, a source-to-sea approach to river management and how to do a $1 billion blue economy deal.
The Nippon Foundation and Back to Blue Initiative are our official host. Sponsors include Ocean Network Express, Archwey, Tomra, Dow, Mary Kay, Starboard Maritime Intelligence, Sembcorp Marine, Global Fishing Watch, Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board and Invest HK.
More details about the week, including the programme and a link to register, are on the event website.
To stay-up-date with the topics throughout the year, visit the World Ocean Initiative website.
Media notes
For details on this press release or to arrange an interview with the World Oceans team please email Michael Cluskey at [email protected].
About Economist Impact
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About World Ocean Initiative
Economist Impact’s World Ocean Initiative imagines an ocean in robust health, and with a vital economy. Year-round and at our flagship World Ocean Summit, we foster a global conversation on the greatest challenges facing the seas, inspiring bold thinking, new partnerships, and the most effective action to build a sustainable ocean economy. The Initiative concentrates on three cross-cutting levers of change — finance, governance, and innovation — each of which concerns the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ for a sustainable ocean, but most of all they explore the ‘how’.
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