Tracks
Themes
HUMAN OCEAN
Ocean Justice & Equity
Promoting equity and developing capacity for access to ocean information and marine resources ensures that all people benefit from and contribute to a healthy, sustainable planet. How can policies be designed to protect island and coastal communities from the impacts of environmental change, including those who will be or have already been displaced? How can we ensure that indigenous knowledge is valued by and integrated into conservation, mitigation, and adaptation strategies?
Sustainable Ocean Resources
The ocean’s health is central to all life on Earth. It is also a repository of resources that could hold the key to reducing human impact on the planetary systems that make Earth habitable. What mechanisms do we have that balance human needs with ocean health and, by extension, the health of the planet? What innovative technologies and new methods can help monitor, restore, or sustainably balance resource use with ecosystem vitality?
Ocean Voices
The ocean has inspired humanity for millennia and lies at the heart of island and coastal cultures worldwide. How can we design ocean policies and climate solutions that acknowledge and incorporate the social and cultural importance of the ocean, especially to Indigenous people? What is the role of creative pursuits and social science in ensuring the nurturing of an ocean-literate society that values and protects the ocean across generations?
PLANET OCEAN
Ocean Life & Biodiversity
Ocean life is bearing the brunt of climate impacts, with potentially dire and largely unknown impacts to social and planetary systems. What does climate change mean for marine biodiversity and ecosystems that support a healthy ocean and thriving communities? How can we identify and preserve critical parts of the living ocean in the face of changing political landscapes and a rapidly changing climate?
Forest to Sea
The ocean is a dynamic engine that connects terrestrial and marine systems through the movement of water, heat, nutrients, and life itself. Estuaries, coastal wetlands, mangroves coral reefs, the deep sea and open ocean link planetary systems in ways that make Earth habitable, but that are under increasing stress. How can we better understand and manage these connections to address the triple crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss? What tools and frameworks can integrate land and sea, science and policy, local knowledge and global action?
Ocean, Carbon & Climate
The ocean can be a source of solutions in the face of an increasingly uncertain future. What role can or should the ocean play in climate mitigation strategies such as marine carbon dioxide removal and sequestration? What steps need to be taken to monitor and mitigate the ocean’s carbon budget to avoid unintended consequences and preserve existing ecosystem services?
FUTURE OCEAN
Blue Economy & Finance
The blue economy is one of the fastest-growing economic sectors worldwide with potential to support both improved livelihoods and ocean health. How can financial mechanisms be designed and implemented that support sustainable blue economy initiatives tailored to local and national needs and that anticipate and address loss and damage needs? What policies will encourage private-sector investment in ocean-friendly technologies and industries while also maximizing input from communities and stakeholders?
Blue Resilience & Adaptation
Building community resilience and adaptation strategies in the face of a changing ocean is essential to protect coastal communities, ensure marine ecosystems health, and implement national adaptation plans. What are the most effective and appropriate nature-based solutions that address current and anticipated changes? What are the gaps in knowledge that need to be filled in order to ensure that people, communities and nations are better prepared for change on both a global and regional scale?
Ocean Solutions & Innovation
Innovative technologies and new approaches can harness the potential of the ocean to meet global challenges and promote sustainability and economic development. What emerging technologies and traditional knowledge offer the greatest potential for sustainable ocean resource management? How can interdisciplinary collaboration drive innovation in ocean-based solutions to environmental and social challenges that also help nations meet their nationally determined contributions and implement ocean-related components of their adaptation plans?