DAVOS-KLOSTERS, January 21 (ANA) – The ocean economy is one of the most critical drivers and sustainers of growth – but only if it remained healthy – and the World Economic Forum has announced a partnership to help improve the health of the world’s oceans and maritime resources.
According to a statement from the WEF at its 47th Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, scientists had warned six months ago of “unprecedented” marine extinction, with devastating consequences for ocean ecology and the people who relied on them.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, oceans generated goods and services worth an estimated $2.5 trillion per year, equivalent to the seventh largest economy in the world. However, this value – in addition to the livelihoods of 80% of the world’s population – was threatened by the decline in ocean health, and lack of adequate measuring and monitoring of ocean activities.
The WEF and the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Marine Science Institute, on Friday announced a partnership as part of the Forum’s New Vision for Ocean Initiative, with the aim of bringing together public, private and civil society sector stakeholders to achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal Number 14 of conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
WEF said the partnership would be supported by the Benioff Ocean Initiative, an applied programme within the Marine Science Institute, using science to improve ocean health, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, a fund to advance ocean science, protection and management.
The announcement comes less than six months after scientists warned in a report in the Journal Science that humanity was driving unprecedented marine extinction, with devastating consequences for the ecology of the oceans and the people who relied on them.
Douglas McCauley, Marine Biologist and Assistant Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who co-authored the report, is director of the Benioff Ocean Initiative and working on the New Vision for Oceans. “Through this new partnership with the World Economic Forum, scientists at UC Santa Barbara, who are setting the global agenda for ocean research, will also now play a role in setting the global agenda for ocean change,” he said.
Dominic Waughray, Head of Public-Private Partnership and Member of the Executive Committee of the WEF, said: “We need to redouble our collective effort to manage the crisis we face from ocean degradation and illegal fishing. This partnership will harness the potential of public-private cooperation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution to help the international community meet the ocean Sustainable Development Goal.
“The health of our oceans is critical to the fate of our planet and should be a top priority for all business and world leaders,” said Marc R. Benioff, Chairman and CEO of Salesforce. “Building coalitions like this – among leaders in science, business, society and government – will be critical as we fight for the future of our oceans.”
South Africa has over 3,000 kilometres of coastline and the oceans, or blue, economy has been identified and prioritised by government as a key component and driver of economic growth, with the potential of contributing up to R177 billion to gross domestic product (GDP) and over one million jobs by 2033.
Teams from government, labour, business, academia and other sectors have been brought together to explore all possibilities and further unlock the potential of the country’s vast coastline, with a particular focus on Marine Transport and Manufacturing, Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration, Aquaculture, and Marine Protection Services and Ocean Governance.
The UN Ocean conference in New York, co-hosted by Fiji and Sweden, takes place on 5-9 June 2017.
– African News Agency (ANA)
(Image: OECD Publishing)
