Inclusivity and Innovation are Key for Future Ocean Governance
28.02.2024
The Marine Regions Forum 2023, held last November in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, highlighted ways to work together towards a common goal of improved ocean governance at national, regional, and global levels. It brought together ocean actors and experts from the Western Indian Ocean region and from other parts of the world to exchange on pressing ocean issues and explore ways forward. The organisers have now released two publications that offer insights into the discussions and present a set of key messages.
The Marine Regions Forum 2023 covered a wide range of topics through workshop-style sessions, exploring challenges and latest developments of the triple planetary crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution), discussing options for a sustainable blue economy, informing about global processes such as in the field of deep-sea mining, and exchanging on how regional action can contribute to achieving goals and responding to challenges. The programme was structured further through daily themes that invited speakers and panellists to reflect on inclusivity, innovation and implementation in ocean governance in connection with the conference topics.
Some commonalities spread across the discussions. The conference team has summarised these in seven key messages:
- Foster inclusivity for tackling the ocean’s crises.
- Mobilise resources and capacities for a healthy and sustainably managed ocean.
- Advance innovations for conservation and sustainable use of marine resources.
- Tackling the triple planetary crisis – collaboration is key.
- Foster a sustainable blue economy.
- Make the most of global goals at the regional level.
- Catalyse implementation and action at the regional level – in the WIO and beyond.
A concise publication elaborates on these messages, while the more expansive conference report gives a detailed overview of the discussions of the Marine Regions Forum 2023.
The Marine Regions Forum is a co-creative and participatory dialogue platform that focuses on regional ocean governance, i.e. the way in which human activities at sea can be organised and regulated through guidelines, institutions, processes and actors at the scale of marine regions.
Links to the publications:
- Hampton, S., Cremers, K., Müller, A., Neumann, B., Rochette, J., Sciacca, A., von Pogrell, L., Weiand, L. (2023): Marine Regions Forum 2023: Navigating ocean sustainability in the Western Indian Ocean and beyond. Conference report. - RIFS Brochure.
https://doi.org/10.48481/rifs.2024.001
https://publications.rifs-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_6003334 - Hampton, S., Cremers, K., Müller, A., Neumann, B., Rochette, J., Sciacca, A., von Pogrell, L., Weiand, L. (2023): Marine Regions Forum 2023: Navigating ocean sustainability in the Western Indian Ocean and beyond. Key messages. - RIFS Brochure.
https://publications.rifs-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_6003336
More information:
- Link to the project website: https://www.rifs-potsdam.de/en/research/marine-regions-forum-western-in…
- Link to the website of the Marine Regions Forum 2023: https://www.prog-ocean.org/marine-regions-forum/conference-2022-3
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