The first meeting of the Marine Regions Forum will be held under the overarching theme “Achieving a healthy ocean - Regional ocean governance beyond 2020.”

Aiming to develop clear recommendations, catalyze actionable outputs, and build partnerships for stronger regional ocean governance in support of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 “Life Below Water,” the Marine Regions Forum will provide a space for decision-makers, scientists, and civil society from around the world to discuss solutions for ocean health.

The Forum will feature interactive plenary and parallel dialogue sessions on the following themes:

• Achieving SDG 14, including issues such as: the fight against plastic pollution; establishment of networks of marine protected areas; development of sustainable coastal and marine tourism; and strengthened regional frameworks for coordinated SDG 14 implementation;
• Underpinning global processes, addressing questions such as how regional approaches can best underpin key global processes for ocean sustainability, and regional-level engagement for emerging issues such as deep seabed mining; and
• Knowledge for ocean action, focusing on how to generate policy-relevant scientific information, and the challenges of integrating different types of knowledge.

The Marine Regions Forum stems from commitment by Germany and the EU in 2017, at the UN Ocean Conference in New York and the Our Ocean Conference in Malta respectively, announcing their support in establishing a multi-stakeholder platform for regional ocean governance. The Marine Regions Forum is a contribution to the Partnership for Regional Ocean Governance, a collaborative initiative between the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), TMG Think Tank for Sustainability and UN Environment. The Forum will convene from 30 September - 2 October 2019, in Berlin, Germany.