The Future is Now: Let’s Dive into an Ocean of Possibilities

Envisioning a sustainable and regenerative future for the Ocean was on the agenda on World Ocean Day, as forward-thinking leaders, changemakers, and innovators gathered to spark hope and reimagine humanity’s relationship with the Ocean. The event “The Future is Now: Let’s Dive into an Ocean of Possibilities,” held on the eve of the Third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3), brought together civil society voices to “think outside the box,” exploring bold visions, transformative solutions, and the actionable pathways to achieve them. Part of the mandate given to Loreley Picourt, Executive Director, Ocean & Climate Platform, and Rémi Parmentier, Co-Founder, The Varda Group, to mobilize and consult civil society in the run up to UNOC3 by co-hosts France and Costa Rica, the event centered around two initiatives: The Ocean Protection Principle and An Ocean of Possibilities.

Key messages from the event include the need to:

• harness imagination and creativity to think outside the box;
• move toward a new value paradigm to reshape the relationship between humans and the Ocean; and
• focus on transformative change that is often driven by individual, local, and community action.
• In opening remarks, Picourt highlighted the mobilization of civil society for UNOC3 toward strengthening the human-nature relationship along the principles of equity, justice, and sustainability.

Parmentier stressed the need to think outside the box to devise transformative ideas such as the protection principle or the ministries of the Ocean, avoiding large structures and vested interests that restrict civil society’s creativity or erect frontiers.

Discussing the Ocean Protection Principle, Marine Calmet, President, Wild Legal, emphasized the need for a new paradigm, acknowledging the fundamental rights of nature, to develop a solid basis to face the challenges of the 21st century. Calmet underscored that the siloed approach to conservation is not efficient and stressed that protection should be the norm, offering relevant examples, such as constitutional developments and court decisions in Ecuador.

Rabeb Aloui, Women's Major Group, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), drew attention to the gap between theory and practice, underscoring that many bills and initiatives exist, but progress remains limited. Aloui highlighted the need to work together and develop robust strategies, stressing that solutions exist.

Addressing the Ocean of Possibilities project, Picourt emphasized that “my future is not necessarily the same as yours,” and yet “we are one wonderful Ocean community.” The project has brought together “avengers of the Ocean,” scientists, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and non-governmental organizations to imagine the future of the Ocean beyond 2030. Picourt highlighted work to identify the shared values that underpin diverse Ocean futures, and the importance of taking time to listen and understand “what drives one another and our diversity” to strengthen civil society efforts and partnership, and find the passion to drive the necessary change.

“You don’t protect what you don’t know and what you don’t love,” stressed Sian Owen, Executive Director, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition. Owen emphasized that a healthy, thriving Ocean requires not only halting destruction and enhancing protection, but also reimagining “the ethics of our engagement with the Ocean” through awareness raising and fostering care, toward the realization that “we take care of nature because we’re part of it.”

An Ocean poem and video “We are all visitors” by James Hita, Communications & Advocacy Coordinator, Deep Sea Mining Campaign, inspired participants to “observe, learn, grow, love, and return home” to the Ocean.

In an interactive dialogue on driving transformative change, Parmentier stressed the need to “rock the boat,” but to do so strategically to ensure that “the boat moves in the right direction.” Picourt highlighted, among other things, the Our Blue Future: A Call for Action from the Ocean Community, a unified call from civil society for transformative action to secure a just, health, and resilient future for the Ocean and all life it sustains.

David Obura, Chair, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), emphasized that change occurs through the small steps people can take every day.

Angelique Pouponneau, Ocean Lead Negotiator, Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), stressed the power of people to galvanize change not only through elections, but also by their contributions to science and civil society efforts to “speak to politicians’ hearts.”

Cameron Diver, Vice President, Island Conservation, noted the need to “listen to island voices,” as islands are not only vulnerable but also part of the solution. Stressing that “conservation works and solutions exist,” Diver underscored that biodiversity and Ocean hotspots are simultaneously “hopespots.”

Barkha Mossae, Regenerative Blue Economy Manager, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), highlighted the “profound, systematic, anchored inequalities that affect our ecosystems,” but emphasized that “we should not underestimate the power we have as individuals,” noting that solutions are often “small, local, and connected.”

“The future is not something we await, it is something we create together starting now,” stressed Anne Park, CEO, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, in closing the event. Emphasizing that the Ocean is not a resource, but rather “a relative, a teacher, and a home,” Park called for reimagining humanity’s relationship with the Ocean toward reciprocity, responsibility, and respect.

Organizers: The Ocean & Climate Platform and The Varda Group

Contact: Cyrielle Lam | [email protected]

More information: https://letsbenicetotheocean.org/

https://ocean-climate.org/en/an-ocean-of-possibilities-a-call-to-imagine-the-future-of-ocean-sustainability/