The 2025 agenda is in progress and will be available soon.
The 2024 agenda focused on ocean health, industry strategies to accelerate the sustainable ocean economy, and ocean-climate solutions. All tracks featured speakers and sessions on investment and innovative financial tools to drive the restoration of ocean health. The sessions moved between high-level policy discussions in the plenaries, detailed focus on ocean-based industries and tangible solutions to the ocean crisis in the track sessions, and hands-on interaction in the “How to” working group sessions. The “How to” working groups were new for 2024 and created a set of action points and practical takeaways for individuals and organisations committed to restore ocean health.
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Americas editor, The Economist
Americas editor, The Economist
Hal Hodson is The Economist’s Asia technology correspondent, focusing on the electronics manufacturing industry and the implications of tensions between America and China. A graduate in astrophysics, he joined the paper in 2016 as science and technology correspondent. Before that he worked for the New Scientist in Boston and London.
Both hardware and software capabilities are required to grow marine-research infrastructure. Sound research infrastructure will facilitate capacity, efficiency and positive outcomes to increase conservation and restoration efforts in the ocean. What are the next steps to increase funding and encourage consolidation and sharing to develop ocean-research infrastructure?
Chief executive, National Oceanography Centre
Chief executive, National Oceanography Centre
Ed Hill is chief executive of the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), one of the world’s most innovative oceanographic institutions. He has a research background in physical oceanography, specialising in the circulation of continental-shelf seas, and has participated in over 20 research expeditions. Professor Hill has served, and continues to serve, on numerous national and international advisory bodies.
Americas editor, The Economist
Americas editor, The Economist
Hal Hodson is The Economist’s Asia technology correspondent, focusing on the electronics manufacturing industry and the implications of tensions between America and China. A graduate in astrophysics, he joined the paper in 2016 as science and technology correspondent. Before that he worked for the New Scientist in Boston and London.
Technology plays a critical role to spur ocean science and innovation, and improve research, reach and results. There is a growing need to make science, research and data more available to organisations working to restore ocean health, as well as to ocean-based industries and the public. The opportunities for innovation and the impact it may deliver are vast. This session will feature innovators and scientists who are harnessing technology for ocean health.
Founder and chief executive, Veer.Voyage
Founder and chief executive, Veer.Voyage
Danielle Southcott loves clean energy and re-imagining systems. She obtained her 200-Ton masters ticket at age 21, empowering her to captain the flagship of Barbados. In 2021 Ms Southcott founded Veer Group, and each year it sponsors a young woman to sail on the St. Lawrence II in gratitude to the ship that first inspired her on Canada’s Great Lakes. She is co-founder of the Costa Rican non-profit association AstilleroVerde, which plants trees and creates jobs in a vulnerable coastal community.
Founder, Climate Edge
Founder, Climate Edge
Hendrik is the CEO of Climate Edge, an innovation studio specialized in climate technology. In this role, he supports corporations, governments, and nonprofits on catalyzing climate-tech innovation and building bridges with startups. He is also a Senior Advisor at Novarium, Canada’s premier hub for blue economy innovation. At Novarium, Hendrik spearheads Ocean Edge, an international open-innovation platform dedicated to ports and maritime corporations.
A seasoned co-founder, Hendrik has been instrumental in establishing and developing innovation and startup organizations focused on sustainable development. His experience spans globally, having built and led innovation hubs and ecosystems in diverse locations across Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.
Previously, Hendrik co-founded New Energy Nexus, the world’s largest clean energy startup accelerator. In 2008, he was a member of the founding team of The Finance Innovation Lab in London, the pioneering ESG-focused innovation lab and accelerator.
With over two decades of expertise in sustainability and innovation, Hendrik has supported numerous startups and has been a key figure in building innovation platforms and ecosystems.
Hendrik edited and published “Accelerate This: A Super Non-Boring Guide to Startup Accelerators and Clean Energy Entrepreneurship” and “Labcraft: How Social Labs Cultivate Change Through Innovation and Collaboration.” His academic contributions include a tenure as a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.
Applications engineer, European Space Agency
Applications engineer, European Space Agency
Diana Mathew is a space-applications consultant engineer within the Directorate of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness at the European Space Agency (ESA), where she works with businesses from the space and non-space sectors that are looking to commercialise products and services that make use of space data and assets. Ms Mathew has a background in telecoms and satcoms engineering and worked in satellite broadband and optical communications before joining ESA. Her current focus is on space-based solutions in the maritime and marine areas, as well as in biological biodiversity, emerging technology and finance.
Executive director, Ocean Startup Project
Executive director, Ocean Startup Project
Paula Mendonça is executive director at the Ocean Startup Project. She brings decades of experience to her role, which is a secondment from her position as director of innovation and entrepreneurship at Memorial University of Newfoundland. With a background in marine biology, intellectual property, research commercialisation and innovation ecosystems, Ms Mendonça has lived, worked and studied in ocean communities on both sides of the Atlantic: Portugal, and Newfoundland and Labrador. She has been the guiding force behind the Ocean Startup Project’s Lab2Market Oceans programme, which has empowered graduate students and researchers across Canadian universities with entrepreneurship skills to validate the market potential of their ocean-related research.
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
Economist Impact’s Global Plastics Summit takes place in October 2023, designed to build momentum for an ambitious UN plastics treaty. This session will provide feedback from the summit and a review of the solutions to the challenges in the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee (INC) process.
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
Global plastics production continues to increase, and with it the amount of plastic waste in rivers, seas and the ocean. Is plastics-production reduction the only way to minimise pollution? What is the status of discussions in the treaty process around production reduction? This session will weigh the pros and cons of legally binding and market-based mechanisms to reduce plastics production.
Head of Ocean, CDP Global
Head of Ocean, CDP Global
Oliver Tanqueray leads CDP’s Ocean Health program. CDP is working with financial institutions, corporates and NGOs to develop a world-leading disclosure framework on plastic waste & pollution, as well as on economic activities impacting the health of the ocean.
Before joining CDP, Oliver worked at an environmental law charity, with a focus on driving corporate accountability in seafood value chains. He worked to encourage responsible sourcing commitments, to challenge greenwashing in the sector and to encourage ambitious environmental protections via a number of national, regional and global policy interventions. Prior to this he held a range of private-sector roles in the food industry.
Officer, preventing ocean plastic, Pew Charitable Trust
Officer, preventing ocean plastic, Pew Charitable Trust
Director of plastics initiative, Minderoo Foundation
Director of plastics initiative, Minderoo Foundation
Marcus leads Minderoo’s global plastics team, who are working towards eliminating the harmful effects of plastic on people and our planet.
Marcus is an international business and sustainability leader. He has a strong track record of driving tangible change in corporate behaviour and public policy.
As the former CEO of WRAP, Marcus spent nearly 15 years partnering with industry, government, and communities on plastic waste reduction and circularity.
He has a PhD in chemical engineering from Imperial College in London and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management.
He is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management.
Corporate environment executive director, Fernando Ventura
Corporate environment executive director, Fernando Ventura
For 20 years at the Jerónimo Martins Group, he has used his experience in environmental management and sustainability to work on preventive management strategies and methods, leading projects that promote the efficiency of natural resources and (eco)innovation, such as climate transition, fighting food waste, packaging ecodesign and circularity of plastics.
Steering Committee Chair, Ocean Sewage Alliance Managing Director, World Ocean Council
Steering Committee Chair, Ocean Sewage Alliance Managing Director, World Ocean Council
Stewart Sarkozy chairs the steering committee for the Ocean Sewage Alliance and is the newly appointed managing director of the World Ocean Council in Barcelona. He is also founder of Precovery Labs, a hub for building resilience and equity in ocean, coastal, urban and Indigenous locations. Mr Sarkozy is part of the ocean fellows team at the Centre for Ocean Policy and Economics at Northeast Maritime Institute in Massachusetts, a member and senior advisor for Global Island Partnership, an advisory committee member and BlueSwell mentor for SeaAhead, and rapporteur for SMILO – the small-island organisation. He teaches at the International University of Catalunya and is a professional documentary and fine-art photographer.
Sea Shepherd Global volunteers clean beaches and coastal areas all along the Portuguese shoreline throughout the year. One to two tons of recycling and general waste is collected each year
Play your part in limiting the amount of plastic waste entering the ocean and join the Sea Shepherd Global team at the World Ocean Summit beach cleanup.
Pick-up location: Lisbon congress centre, Praça das Industrias, 1 ,1300-307 Lisbon, Portugal (in front of the venue)
Drop-off location: Entrance of Lisbon Helicopters at the Praia do Dafudo, Algés
Limited availability: register your interest at [email protected].
Blue innovation requires scientific knowledge, research and data, funding and holistic policies to achieve scalability and profitability. Decentralised blue-economy strategies are necessary to support local communities, foster collaboration and increase the adaptability of ocean solutions developed by innovators and entrepreneurs. This session will discuss how to generate opportunities for ocean startups, and the support that governments can provide for better impact.
Minister of environment, energy and climate action, Prince Edward Island
Minister of environment, energy and climate action, Prince Edward Island
Chief executive, Island Innovation
Chief executive, Island Innovation
James Ellsmoor, an entrepreneur and writer, is passionate about climate-change advocacy and environmental policy, with a focus on remote, rural and island communities. He is chief executive officer of Island Innovation, a creative agency that builds digital bridges between islands and works for clients in the sustainable-development sector on island development strategies and media communications. Mr Ellsmoor is also a co-founder and director of Solar Head of State, a non-profit organisation which works across the Caribbean and Pacific Islands, raising awareness of renewable energy through high-profile solar installations on governmental buildings.
Many leaders of ocean-based industries are using technology and science to optimise their sustainable practices and reduce the negative impact on ocean health. But working in silos reduces the opportunities for quick, efficient and impactful results. What can ocean-based industries learn from each other? Speakers will discuss how to encourage collaboration and information-sharing, and investigate how technologies could be used across industries
Senior director, industrial pathways transformation, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Senior director, industrial pathways transformation, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Nancy Gillis is the Senior Director, Industrial Pathways Transformation at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) focused on accelerating the decarbonization, equality and nature positivity of the Mobility, Energy and the Built Environment sectors. She previously led the First Movers Coalition, the global demand-side initiative for innovative decarbonization technology, at the World Economic Forum (WEF). Her experience includes being CEO of the Global Electronics Council (GEC) and serving as the Global Lead for Resilient and Responsible Supply Chains at Ernst & Young (EY). During the Obama Administration, Nancy was the Director of the Federal Supply Chain Office at the General Services Administration (GSA), the public procurement agency for the US government, where she was responsible for the inclusion of sustainability criteria in approximately $45 Billion of procurement spend. Nancy received her graduate degree in Information Technology from Georgetown University.
Head, renewable energy projects, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Head, renewable energy projects, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Ben Maurer is a research engineer at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where he leads a multi-organisation, cross-disciplinary research team in the Waterborne Plastics Assessment and Collection Technologies (WaterPACT) project. The project aims to develop a suite of renewably powered sensing and removal technologies for suspended and floating plastics debris. Mr Maurer’s technical expertise is in fluid dynamics, remote sensing and operational oceanography. He holds an affiliate faculty position with the University of Washington’s Mechanical Engineering Department.
Chief executive and co-founder, Sway
Chief executive and co-founder, Sway
Secretary-general, Forum Oceano
Secretary-general, Forum Oceano
Managing partner, Propeller
Managing partner, Propeller
This session will identify how reuse can make a real impact on plastics reduction. How does it reduce production and recycling? How is reuse being addressed in the treaty negotiations? How can it be tackled systemically?
Regents Professor, College of Engineering, University of Georgia
Regents Professor, College of Engineering, University of Georgia
Dr. Jenna Jambeck is a Regents Professor, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor in Environmental Engineering at the University of Georgia, a 2022 MacArthur Fellow, Founder of the Circularity Informatics Lab in the New Materials Institute and a 2018-2021 National Geographic Explorer. In 2019, she co-led the National Geographic Sea to Source Expedition: Ganges and currently leads the science for the Mississippi River Plastic Pollution Initiative. She has been conducting research on solid waste issues for over 25 years and marine debris/plastic pollution for 22 years. Her work has been recognized by the global community and translated into policy discussions by the High-Level Panel for the Ocean, testimony to Congress, in G7 and G20 Declarations, and the United Nations Environment program. She has conducted public environmental diplomacy as an International Informational Speaker for the US Department of State since 2017. She is co-developer of the mobile app Marine Debris Tracker, a tool that continues to facilitate a growing global citizen science initiative. The app and citizen science program has documented the location of over eight million litter and marine debris items in our environment throughout the world. She is the host of a podcast called Aquathread on NPR and co-author of Plastics, a book in MIT Press’s Essential Knowledge Series.
Director of circular economy partnerships, Green Worms
Director of circular economy partnerships, Green Worms
Akshay Gunteti is director of partnerships at Green Worms, which addresses the dual challenges of the waste crisis and poverty by creating opportunities for “waste-preneurs” and jobs for women in the waste value chain, ensuring dignity, fair wages and safe working conditions. Mr Gunteti’s enterprise has created 2,600 indirect and 350 direct jobs and is operational in 120 villages in India. Green Worms builds global collaborations for local action and a substantial global impact. Mr Gunteti is passionate about ocean conservation and community action programmes.
Co-founder, A Plastic Planet
Co-founder, A Plastic Planet
Senior associate, Systemiq
Senior associate, Systemiq
Christiana works within the materials and circular-economy platform at Systemiq, primarily on plastics and packaging. She has worked with brands, retailers and packaging manufacturers on packaging policy and design, with a particular focus on reusable-packaging systems and strategies. Most recently she led the analysis for a returnable-packaging study with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, looking at its economic and environmental impact compared with single-use packaging. Before joining Systemiq Ms Dujardin worked at Modern Milkman, a UK-based company delivering groceries in reusable packaging, where she led the development of tools to improve the operational performance of the reusable-packaging supply chain.
Sponsored by Ava Ocean
Many human activities in the sea have a negative impact on the seabed, affecting marine ecosystems, species and carbon cycles. Scientists and researchers are exploring the positive changes that technology can make to such activities. Collaboration is key to designing long-term holistic conservation and restoration initiatives in traditional ocean industries. This session will discuss how effective collaboration between science, industry, investors and policy can instigate change for the seabed. The speakers will highlight how novel technologies can support the fishing industry and discuss whether sustainable seabed fisheries are a possibility.
Professor of marine conservation, University of Exeter
Professor of marine conservation, University of Exeter
Callum Roberts is professor of marine conservation at the University of Exeter in the UK and leads the Convex Seascape Survey, an international research programme to unlock the secrets of carbon storage on the world’s continental shelves. His team provided the scientific underpinning for the new ocean protection target—30% by 2030—which was adopted as a global goal at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in 2022. He is author of “The Unnatural History of the Sea” (2007), “Ocean of Life: How Our Seas are Changing” (2013) and “Reef Life: An Underwater Memoir” (2019), and he was lead science adviser for the BBC series “Blue Planet II”.
Founder and chief executive, Ava Ocean
Founder and chief executive, Ava Ocean
Øystein Tvedt is chief executive and one of the original founders of Ava Ocean, a technology and seafood company based in Aalesund, Norway. He is an experienced entrepreneur and leader, having established several successful businesses before embarking on the seabed adventure with Ava Ocean in 2016. Mr Tvedt has led several marine research projects, working with government and scientists in Norway.
Scientific research in the ocean can be an expensive and daunting proposition. The existing research infrastructure does not provide a global platform for scientists to accelerate their work, use innovative technologies and collect data in more efficient ways. This interview will identify the missing tools and gaps in investment and finance, while providing solutions that can improve scientists’ abilities to carry out complex research for the ocean.
Aquanaut, oceanographic explorer, environmental advocate, founder, Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center and Proteus Ocean Group
Aquanaut, oceanographic explorer, environmental advocate, founder, Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center and Proteus Ocean Group
Fabien Cousteau’s first experience with scuba was at the age of 4, and since then his life has been immersed in ocean exploration and conservation. In 2014 Mr Cousteau led a team of aquanauts on Mission 31, the longest science expedition at Aquarius, the only remaining underwater marine laboratory. This inspired him to found Proteus Ocean Group with a vision to build a new state-of-the-art modular habitat to facilitate ground-breaking marine research and exploration. PROTEUS is slated for deployment off the coast of Curaçao. Mr Cousteau founded the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Centre (FCOLC) to drive positive environmental change in the marine world.
Americas editor, The Economist
Americas editor, The Economist
Hal Hodson is The Economist’s Asia technology correspondent, focusing on the electronics manufacturing industry and the implications of tensions between America and China. A graduate in astrophysics, he joined the paper in 2016 as science and technology correspondent. Before that he worked for the New Scientist in Boston and London.
How can waste-management and recycling processes be optimised to expand their reach, efficiency and effectiveness? Where is investment needed, and what incentives will further the transformation?
Founder, RiverRecycle
Founder, RiverRecycle
With 30 years’ experience as an entrepreneur and a background in engineering, Anssi Mikola has become a pioneer in transforming waste management into a circular opportunity in emerging economies. She founded RiverRecycle in 2018, and its projects and collaborations have spread to nine countries, connecting affected communities to global brands and governments active in tackling the problem of plastic pollution.
Executive director, Fundação Príncipe
Executive director, Fundação Príncipe
Estrela Matilde is a conservation biologist and until January 2024 was executive director of Fundação Principe, an NGO based in Principe working to protect the west African island’s natural heritage while creating economic opportunities for the local community. Ms Matilde is a 2022 Whitley Award winner for her pioneering work to address plastic pollution on Principe, which is an important nesting and feeding site for five of the world’s seven marine turtle species.
Chief financial & Chief operating, EverestLabs
Chief financial & Chief operating, EverestLabs
Executive director, The Circulate Initiative
Executive director, The Circulate Initiative
Michael Sadkowski is executive director of the Circulate Initiative, a non-profit organisation working to solve the plastic-pollution challenge and build circular and equitable economies across emerging markets. The initiative conducts research and leads collaborative programmes such as NextWave Plastics and the Responsible Sourcing Initiative to address systemic barriers to advancing the circular economy. Mr Sadowski previously led Nike’s efforts on the circular economy and managed external partnerships, and was a vice-president at SustainAbility, where he worked with companies across sectors on sustainability topics.
The fusion of science and policy has the potential to influence mass behaviour, set new industry directions and achieve legally binding actions for ocean health. However, the two sectors have separate challenges and lack a common language. This interview will focus on how to create an environment where ocean science and policy can interact effectively.
Head, Brazilian Observatory of Maritime Policies
Head, Brazilian Observatory of Maritime Policies
André Beirão is head of the Brazilian Observatory of Maritime Policies. A retired captain in the Brazilian Navy, from 2014 to 2018 he was deputy co-ordinator of the Political Science and International Relations programme at the CAPES Foundation, part of Brazil’s Ministry of Education. He has been a professor of maritime studies, and a visiting professor at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He is a member of the Interministerial Official Board for the New Brazilian Maritime Policy. Mr Beirão is the author of “The Value of the Sea” (2018) and “Blue Economy: Vector for Brazilian Development” (2022).
Head of oceans and natural resources, The Commonwealth
Head of oceans and natural resources, The Commonwealth
Nicholas Hardman-Mountford is a diplomat and marine scientist working in ocean, climate and resource governance and multilateral development, with a strong focus on sustainable blue economies. He is head of oceans and natural resources at the Commonwealth Secretariat, where he leads a technical advisory team delivering the Commonwealth Blue Charter initiative and technical-assistance projects on ocean governance and natural-resources reform in Commonwealth countries. Mr Hardman-Mountford was previously principal scientist at Australia’s national research agency, CSIRO, where he led the Indian Ocean ecology and oceanography group. He is adjunct professor at the University of Western Australia.
Executive secretary, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), UNESCO
Executive secretary, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), UNESCO
Vidar Helgesen is executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC/UNESCO) and assistant director-general of UNESCO. From 2021 to 2024 he was executive director of the Nobel Foundation in Sweden. An international lawyer by training, he has held several positions in the Norwegian government, as special representative for the ocean, minister of climate and environment, minister of European affairs and chief of staff to the prime minister, as well as deputy minister of foreign affairs.
Marine and climate change ecologist, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Marine and climate change ecologist, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Professor Ana Queirós is a Principal Investigator at Plymouth Marine Laboratory and internationally recognised expert on seaweed blue carbon and climate change ecology. She specialises in advancing ocean habitat management knowledge including global blue carbon capacity and ecosystem-level climate change signals. She has an extensive track record in co-development of nature-based solutions and is leading research within globally distributed programmes towards building climate resilience into marine conservation, harvesting and marine spatial planning, including blue carbon habitat management. She engages with policy, industry and the private sector, holds various Chairing and Committee roles and is a Professor at the University of Exeter. Her work can be found in international and UK agenda setting documents.
The INC negotiations aim to deliver the world’s first global plastics treaty and the biggest green deal since the 2015 Paris climate accord. This conversation will assess the progress of the discussions and the anticipated impact on action for ocean health.
Sponsored by Oceano Azul
The blue biotechnology industry demonstrates the potential of the ocean to decarbonise industries. It is a growing sector that employs thousands of people and develops solutions in several areas, like pharmaceuticals, food and feed, bioremediation, textile, construction and others. Blue biotech is a crucial component of sustainable economic development and a healthy blue economy. Investing in blue biotech applications allows companies to address environmental challenges while creating economic value. How are companies applying blue biotech solutions? What are the main challenges and benefits of using blue biotechnology instead of fossil-fuel solutions?
President of the executive board, Inovamar
President of the executive board, Inovamar
Miguel Marques is president of the executive board of Inovamar, the leading entity of the Blue Bioeconomy Pact, which aims to contribute to the reindustrialisation and decarbonisation of the Portuguese economy through investments in the blue bioeconomy. Mr Marques founded Skipper & Wool and its international thought-leadership project, Blue Info. He was a partner at PwC and founded the company’s Blue Economy Global Centre of Excellence, which he led for over a decade. He is the author of several books and more than 100 blue-economy reports and studies.
Founder and director, Cascadia Seaweed
Founder and director, Cascadia Seaweed
Bill Collins trained as a geologist, and since moving to the Victoria area in British Columbia, Canada, in 1994 he has been responsible for bringing a locally invented sonar system to the world stage, including sales to more than 20 navies and government institutions. As part of the ownership group of an award-winning high-tech company, Mr Collins has filled many corporate roles including M&A activities. He has a passion for creating and executing sound business plans and a strong belief in Vancouver Island as a business growth opportunity.
Founder, Keel Labs
Founder, Keel Labs
content in the market. Prior to co-founding Keel Labs, Ms Gosiewski worked at PVH and Ralph Lauren. Early in her fashion career she noticed a frequent disconnect between brands’ sustainability commitments and their implementation within business practices. As a systems thinker with a background in economics, she is bridging that gap by ensuring the responsible sourcing of seaweed, and driving R&D operations to scale the production of Kelsun.
Chief executive, Aquit
Chief executive, Aquit
Daniela Allerbon is the Chief Executive Officer of AQUIT, a biotech startup with a team of talented scientists working to sustainably solve one of the most pressing health problems in aquaculture: the use of antibiotics. They have developed a treatment that boosts fish immunity, replacing antibiotics. This innovative solution has won several awards, including the Responsible Seafood Innovation Award of the Global Seafood Alliance in 2023 and the Sustainability Award of the Global Aquaculture Challenge in 2021.
Before joining AQUIT, Daniela led the Research and Development team at Silvateam. There, she was responsible for the development and commercialization of a prebiotic that modulates the intestinal microbiome, clinical trials with COVID-19 patients, and innovative metagenomic analysis.
She also has extensive experience working with public policies to promote innovation, directing projects like the Ecotoken. She has held the positions of Director at the Strategic Affairs Secretary of the Presidency of Argentina, Senior Advisor to the Innovation, Research & Development Agency, and Deputy Director of Media at the National Media and Communications Entity.
She graduated from Sanit Andrew’s University with an Economics Degree.
Americas editor, The Economist
Americas editor, The Economist
Hal Hodson is The Economist’s Asia technology correspondent, focusing on the electronics manufacturing industry and the implications of tensions between America and China. A graduate in astrophysics, he joined the paper in 2016 as science and technology correspondent. Before that he worked for the New Scientist in Boston and London.
From monitoring to warnings, and measuring to risk assessment, there are many opportunities for AI to play a role in ocean-health restoration. This session will explore the potential of AI to contribute to achieving industry net-zero targets, enhancing biodiversity and restoring the ecosystem.
Chief executive, Canada's Ocean Supercluster
Chief executive, Canada's Ocean Supercluster
Kendra MacDonald is chief executive officer of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, responsible for driving innovation and growth in the ocean economy. With a team working across six cities in Atlantic Canada, she focuses on changing the culture of doing business in the ocean, increasing collaboration across ocean sectors and Canada’s global reach. Ms MacDonald was previously a partner in Deloitte’s risk advisory practice and the chief audit executive of Deloitte Global, and she has lived and worked in Canada, Australia and Hong Kong. She serves on the board of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and is a past chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology Industries.
Co-Ceo and chief science officer of OceanX
Co-Ceo and chief science officer of OceanX
Vincent Pieribone is co-chief executive and chief science officer at OceanX, where he leads scientific strategy, media activities, governmental relationships and decisions related to OceanXplorer, the research and media vessel that OceanX uses to conduct its multifaceted missions. He is also a professor of cellular and molecular physiology and neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine and a fellow at Yale’s John B. Pierce Laboratory. Mr Pieribone researches methods to measure brain activity using a combination of light and proteins found in the ocean. Over the past 15 years he has conducted ocean research expeditions across the globe and has started a pharmaceutical company and a medical diagnostic company.
Director of innovation and business strategy, Port of Barcelona
Director of innovation and business strategy, Port of Barcelona
Emma Cobos became director of innovation and business strategy at the Port of Barcelona in 2021. She previously spent ten years as business development director at the Barcelona Port Authority. Ms Cobos started her career in shipping in 1999, working in Hong Kong for Transglory, a freight forwarder headquartered in Barcelona, where as director of Transglory Asia she was responsible for developing the agent’s network in Asia. She also worked at Portic Barcelona (the port community system of the Port of Barcelona) as sales and marketing manager.
Head Ocean Economy, Science, Technology and Innovation Directorate, OECD
Head Ocean Economy, Science, Technology and Innovation Directorate, OECD
Digital-twin technologies are computer simulations and algorithmic models of real-world assets and activities. Applied to the ocean, they would make marine knowledge more accessible to policymakers, scientists, entrepreneurs and citizens. They offer opportunities to work with real-time variables and experiment with various scenarios. What is the potential for digital twin systems to help restore marine and coastal habitats, support a sustainable blue economy and mitigate climate change? What are the difficulties to be overcome?
Head of research unit, physical oceanography, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research
Head of research unit, physical oceanography, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research
Martin Visbeck is head of the physical oceanography research unit at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, and a professor at Kiel University in Germany. He researches the ocean’s role in the climate system, ocean circulation, upwelling systems, integrated global ocean observation, digital twins of the ocean and the ocean dimension of sustainable development. Mr Visbeck has led the Future Ocean Network in Kiel to advance integrated marine sciences. He serves on several national and international advisory committees, and is involved in strategic planning and decision-making processes about the ocean and sustainable development at national, European and global levels.
Policy officer, DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission
Policy officer, DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission
Zoi Konstantinou is a marine scientist and expert on integrated coastal and marine management and on the science-policy-society interface. Before joining the European Commission she worked in marine research, in science-policy interface and in higher education. As a European Commission policy officer Ms Konstantinou is responsible for the European Marine Observation and Data network (EMODnet) and the EU Digital Twin of the Ocean (EU DTO), while working on other aspects of marine knowledge. Before joining the EC she worked in marine research, in science-policy interface and in higher education.
Head Ocean Economy, Science, Technology and Innovation Directorate, OECD
Head Ocean Economy, Science, Technology and Innovation Directorate, OECD
Sponsored by Purina
Marine-habitat restoration requires a collective effort. This presentation will share an approach to marine-habitat restoration that covers multiple species and sites. It will address how the private sector can collaborate with partners to tackle common challenges and leverage opportunities.
Director, corporate communications and sustainability, Purina Europe
Director, corporate communications and sustainability, Purina Europe
Kerstin Schmeiduch has worked at Nestlé Group for 24 years in various roles and countries in human resources, legal and corporate communications and sustainability. She is director of corporate communication and sustainability at Nestlé Purina PetCare for Europe, since 2020. Passionate about planetary and societal health, Kerstin leads the company´s ESG strategy and has developed the 2030 Purina Commitments to include the regeneration of land and ocean ecosystems.
Why is it hard to foster collaboration and implement multi-stakeholder solutions for a sustainable ocean? How can the latest research and technology contribute to circular economies? This session will bring together speakers who have led by example to demonstrate how aligning strategies could deliver long-term results for a sustainable blue economy.
Coordinator senior researcher in environmental economics, University of Aveiro
Coordinator senior researcher in environmental economics, University of Aveiro
Helena Vieira is co-ordinator researcher and ERA chair in environmental economics and natural-resources management at the University of Aveiro in Portugal. She is responsible for launching and co-ordinating a new team at the university’s Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) R&D unit, joining the natural and socioeconomic sciences to develop sustainable solutions. Professor Vieira is also chair of the Scientific Committee of Circular Bio-Based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE-JU), an EU-based public-private partnership to promote bioeconomy and circularity models, and a board member of the EU Mission Restore our Oceans and Waters. She was previously director-general of maritime policy in the Portuguese ministry of the sea.
Director, The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census
Director, The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census
Oliver Steeds is director of Ocean Census and chief executive of Nekton. Ocean Census is an open network of organisations uniting expertise and resources to accelerate the discovery and protection of ocean life, with a target of discovering 100,000 new species in the coming decade. Ocean Census is founded and run by the Nippon Foundation and by Nekton, a British charitable marine-research and conservation institute combining large-scale expeditionary programmes, applied research and story-telling to help advance our understanding and protection of the ocean. Prior to joining Nekton Mr Steeds was a broadcast journalist. He is also co-founder of the educational non-profit organisations Digital Explorer and the Ocean’s Academy.
Director, ProtectedSeas
Director, ProtectedSeas
Global director climate and nature, Fugro
Global director climate and nature, Fugro
Robert Hoddenbak is global director for climate and nature at Fugro, a geo‑data specialist. He is responsible for guiding Fugro’s ocean-science and health activities in support of the blue economy. As a partner and contributor to the UN Ocean Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, Fugro is working to close data gaps in ocean data, information and knowledge. A strong believer in creating shared value for societal challenges through partnerships, Mr Hoddenbach focuses on developing geo-data solutions for coastal resilience and ocean health in collaboration with tech startups, government agencies and academia.
Executive director, Ocean Startup Project
Executive director, Ocean Startup Project
Paula Mendonça is executive director at the Ocean Startup Project. She brings decades of experience to her role, which is a secondment from her position as director of innovation and entrepreneurship at Memorial University of Newfoundland. With a background in marine biology, intellectual property, research commercialisation and innovation ecosystems, Ms Mendonça has lived, worked and studied in ocean communities on both sides of the Atlantic: Portugal, and Newfoundland and Labrador. She has been the guiding force behind the Ocean Startup Project’s Lab2Market Oceans programme, which has empowered graduate students and researchers across Canadian universities with entrepreneurship skills to validate the market potential of their ocean-related research.
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By shedding light on the economic linkages driving the blue economy, this research paves the way for improved ocean observations, climate change mitigation efforts, and research on the economic value of ocean-data. This programme aims to demonstrate the benefits of enhancing data accessibility and usability through collaboration between public-private, academic, and philanthropic sectors.
Japan lead, Impact Initiatives, Economist Impact
Japan lead, Impact Initiatives, Economist Impact
Naka Kondo is an editorial lead of the policy and insights team at Economist Impact, based in Tokyo. As a story-telling specialist she leads research programmes for corporates, foundations and governments seeking evidence-based analysis and insights to bring real-world impact. Ms Kondo is the founder and lead of the multi-year Back to Blue ocean initiative. Her focus areas include ocean health, longevity, education, social infrastructure, art, media and Japan. Before joining The Economist Group in 2014 Ms Kondo was public-relations adviser to Japan’s Cabinet Office, and spent seven years at a US investment bank in the Japanese equities business.
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Editor-in-chief, The Economist
Editor-in-chief, The Economist
Zanny Minton Beddoes is the Editor-in-Chief of The Economist. Previously she was the business affairs editor, responsible for the newspaper’s coverage of business, finance and science.
Prior to this role, she was The Economist’s economics editor, overseeing the newspaper’s global economics coverage from her base in Washington DC. Before moving to Washington in April 1996, Ms. Minton Beddoes was The Economist’s emerging-markets correspondent based in London. She travelled extensively in Latin America and Eastern Europe, writing editorials and country analyses. She has written surveys of the World Economy, Latin American finance, global finance and Central Asia.
Ms. Minton Beddoes joined The Economist in 1994 after spending two years as an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where she worked on macroeconomic adjustment programmes in Africa and the transition economies of Eastern Europe. Before joining the IMF, she worked as an adviser to the Minister of Finance in Poland, as part of a small group headed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard University.
Ms. Minton Beddoes has written extensively about international financial issues including enlargement of the European Union, the future of the International Monetary Fund and economic reform in emerging economies. She has published in Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, contributed chapters to several conference volumes and, in 1997, edited “Emerging Asia”, a book on the future of emerging-markets in Asia, published by the Asian Development Bank. In May 1998 she testified before Congress on the introduction of the Euro.
Ms. Minton Beddoes is a regular television and radio commentator on BBC, MSNBC, PBS, NPR, CNN and CNBC.
She holds degrees from Oxford University and Harvard University.
Protecting the ocean requires collaboration, a sense of urgency, and overcoming challenges of ignorance, politics, and competing priorities. This keynote interview will advocate for the blue agenda to be prioritised, while discussing the conflicts of interests raised by deep-sea mining, challenges in marine protected areas, and how to increase the value of marine natural capital.
President and co-chair, Mission Blue
President and co-chair, Mission Blue
Sylvia Earle is president and chairman of Mission Blue/The Sylvia Earle Alliance. She is an oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer with experience as a field research scientist, government official and director for several corporate and non-profit organisations. Ms Earle is a National Geographic Society explorer in residence.
Editor-in-chief, The Economist
Editor-in-chief, The Economist
Zanny Minton Beddoes is editor-in-chief of The Economist. Previously she was the business affairs editor, responsible for the newspaper’s coverage of business, finance and science. Prior to this she was The Economist’s economics editor, and before that the emerging- markets correspondent, in which role she travelled in Latin America and Eastern Europe, writing editorials and country analyses. She has written surveys of the world economy, Latin American finance, global finance and Central Asia. Ms Minton Beddoes joined The Economist in 1994 after two years as an economist at the International Monetary Fund, where she worked on macroeconomic adjustment programmes in Africa and the transition economies of Eastern Europe.
How can momentum be increased to keep water and nature moving up the agenda? What will keep the ocean as a priority when thoughts turn to other competing objectives?
Deputy director-general, directorate-general for maritime affairs and fisheries, European Commission
Deputy director-general, directorate-general for maritime affairs and fisheries, European Commission
Kęstutis Sadauskas, a Lithuanian national, is deputy director-general in the Directorate-General (DG) for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission, a post he has held since April 2022. Before this he spent seven years as director for circular economy and green growth at the commission’s DG Environment. From 2010 to 2014 Mr Sadauskas was head of the cabinet of commissioner Algirdas Šemeta responsible for taxation, customs, anti-fraud, audit and statistics. Before this he served as head of the Representation of the European Commission in Vilnius. From 1993 to 2006 Mr Sadauskas worked in the Lithuanian Foreign Service on multilateral issues.
Director-general, marine policy, Portugal
Director-general, marine policy, Portugal
Marisa Lameiras da Silva is currently the General Director for Portuguese Maritime Policy. Before this she has had leading roles in shaping environmental policies, namely as Head of Strategy for the Portuguese Environmental Agency and adviser to the Portuguese Minister of the Environment and Climate Action, as well as responsible for the coordination of the national Action Plan for a Sustainable Bioeconomy.
In her previous role she was heavily involved in maritime policies as adviser to the Portuguese Minister of the Sea responsible for the Sustainable Ocean Economy and heavily involved in several subjects and projects such as offshore renewable energy, blue bioeconomy, blue Innovation and circular economy.
Her background is a degree in Chemical Engineering, a MSc in Sanitary Engineering and a MSc in Project Management. She has held multiple roles including Advisor, Environmental Consulting, Environmental Compliance Specialist, Senior Program Management (for strategic national environmental projects), among many others.
Advisor, Royal Hashemite Court, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Advisor, Royal Hashemite Court, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
His Excellency Eng. Khaled Irani, an advisor at the Royal Hashemite Court, is a proven leader, giving his expertise to the pioneering Aqaba Marine Park (an initiative overseen by His Majesty King Abdullah II), and he is providing advices on sustainable development endeavors. Mr. Irani’s passion to environmental stewardship has been evident in his proactive contributions to ecological initiatives, policies, and technological investments in Jordan, spanning over two and a half decades. Previously a Senate member, the President of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, and Minister of Environment for a tenure of 6 years, HE proposed and headed significant environmental schemes, including the enactment of the Renewable Energy Efficiency Law in Jordan.
Executive secretary, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), UNESCO
Executive secretary, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), UNESCO
Vidar Helgesen is executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC/UNESCO) and assistant director-general of UNESCO. From 2021 to 2024 he was executive director of the Nobel Foundation in Sweden. An international lawyer by training, he has held several positions in the Norwegian government, as special representative for the ocean, minister of climate and environment, minister of European affairs and chief of staff to the prime minister, as well as deputy minister of foreign affairs.
Editor-in-chief, The Economist
Editor-in-chief, The Economist
Zanny Minton Beddoes is editor-in-chief of The Economist. Previously she was the business affairs editor, responsible for the newspaper’s coverage of business, finance and science. Prior to this she was The Economist’s economics editor, and before that the emerging- markets correspondent, in which role she travelled in Latin America and Eastern Europe, writing editorials and country analyses. She has written surveys of the world economy, Latin American finance, global finance and Central Asia. Ms Minton Beddoes joined The Economist in 1994 after two years as an economist at the International Monetary Fund, where she worked on macroeconomic adjustment programmes in Africa and the transition economies of Eastern Europe.
The ocean requires a substantial increase in investment to fulfil its potential to tackle climate change and reduce biodiversity loss. How can investment that supports the sustainable blue economy be increased? Could the UN agreement on the “High Seas” treaty encourage investors to assess opportunities in the blue economy?
Chief investment Officer ESG & Global Head of Chief Investment Office Deutsche Bank - Private Bank
Chief investment Officer ESG & Global Head of Chief Investment Office Deutsche Bank - Private Bank
Markus Müller is global head of the Chief Investment Office of the Private Bank, Deutsche Bank, and in 2022 he also took on the role of chief investment officer ESG. He is co-chair of Deutsche Bank’s Nature Advisory Panel. Mr Müller’s research focuses on the structural transformation of economies and societies and on sustainability. He has written several books and articles, most recently “India in the 21st Century: On Its Way to a Post-industrial Economy”, and he is a columnist for Global Policy Journal at Durham University. Mr Müller began his career at Deutsche Bank as executive assistant to the chief economist in DB Research.
Chief sustainability officer, Standard Chartered
Chief sustainability officer, Standard Chartered
Marisa Drew was appointed chief sustainability officer at Standard Chartered Bank in July 2022. During her 30-year career she has worked at Merrill Lynch, later joining Credit Suisse in the investment-banking area. In 2017 Ms Drew founded Credit Suisse’s Impact Advisory and Finance Group, of which she was CEO. She is a non-executive director of the City of London Corporation and of Liberty Global, a US-listed broadband and mobile company. She also serves on the advisory boards of the Aspen Institute UK and the Milken Institute Centre for Strategic Philanthropy, and on several high-level working groups of the World Economic Forum and the UN, including the UN Oceans Panel.
Global director, Financial institutions group IFC
Global director, Financial institutions group IFC
Tomasz Telma is director and global head of the Financial Institutions Group at IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. He is responsible for managing IFC’s investment and advisory services in the financial sector. He leads a team responsible for over $9bn in new investments annually, and a portfolio of nearly $29bn in investment and more than $300m in active advisory projects. Mr Telma has more than 25 years’ experience leading investment transactions in emerging markets. Immediately prior to his current assignment, he was IFC’s senior director for manufacturing, agribusiness and services, with responsibility for IFC’s investments in a broad range of sectors.
Briefings editor, The Economist
Briefings editor, The Economist
Oliver Morton is The Economist’s briefings editor. Before joining the newspaper in 2009 as energy and environment editor, he worked at Nature and Wired. Mr Morton specialises in the energy business, climate science and policy, and other green issues. As a writer on scientific, technological and planetary change, he is the author of four books: “Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination and the Birth of a World” (2002), “Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet” (2007), “The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World” (2015) and “The Moon: A History for the Future” (2019). They all deal with understanding and imagining planetary processes, especially climate change on Earth.
Supporting early-stage blue entrepreneurs with seed funding to advance their innovative technologies can have an outsized impact on ocean health. This keynote interview will explore how modest investments have led to technologies that support sustainable fishing, the protection of marine life, deep-sea exploration, biomaterial innovation and broad public engagement. How do innovations in imagery, measurements and data analysis help find solutions for ocean health, restoration and conservation? These new technologies are changing the way ocean systems are understood, how ecosystems evolve over time, and how they impact the Earth’s climate.
President and co-founder Schmidt family foundation, Schmidt Ocean Institute
President and co-founder Schmidt family foundation, Schmidt Ocean Institute
WENDY SCHMIDT is a philanthropist and investor who has spent nearly two decades creating organizations that work with communities around the world to advance clean energy, resilient food systems, healthy oceans and human rights. The critical interconnections between human activity, the land we live on and the ocean we depend upon are the central drivers of Wendy’s philanthropic work. Through a combination of grants and investments, Wendy’s philanthropic work supports research and science, community organizations, promising leaders and the development of innovative technologies. Wendy is president and co-founder of the Schmidt Family Foundation and Schmidt Ocean Institute, which she and her husband Eric founded.
Editor-in-chief, The Economist
Editor-in-chief, The Economist
Zanny Minton Beddoes is editor-in-chief of The Economist. Previously she was the business affairs editor, responsible for the newspaper’s coverage of business, finance and science. Prior to this she was The Economist’s economics editor, and before that the emerging- markets correspondent, in which role she travelled in Latin America and Eastern Europe, writing editorials and country analyses. She has written surveys of the world economy, Latin American finance, global finance and Central Asia. Ms Minton Beddoes joined The Economist in 1994 after two years as an economist at the International Monetary Fund, where she worked on macroeconomic adjustment programmes in Africa and the transition economies of Eastern Europe.
Greece will host Our Ocean 2024 next month, and the third UNOC will take place in France next year, chaired jointly by the government of France and Costa Rica. The World Ocean Summit, in alignment with the global ocean calendar will build on outcomes of the previous events and prepare for the future events. What are the principal aims of the next events, and how can organisations work now to ensure the best outcome?
UN secretary-general’s special envoy for the ocean
UN secretary-general’s special envoy for the ocean
Peter Thomson was Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2010 to 2016, and served as president of the UN General Assembly in 2016-17. In 2014 he was president of the executive board of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Office of Project Services. Ambassador Thomson was previously president of the Assembly and Council of the International Seabed Authority. In 2017 he became the first United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, in which role he drives implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda’s goal to conserve and sustainably use the resources of the ocean.
Ambassador to poles and oceans, France
Ambassador to poles and oceans, France
Olivier Poivre d’Arvor is a diplomat, cultural official and maritime specialist. He served as ambassador of France to Tunisia from 2016 to 2020, following which he was appointed ambassador for the poles and maritime issues. In 2021 he was appointed special envoy of the French president for the One Ocean Summit. Mr Poivre d’Arvor is a former director of Radio France Culture and currently serves as president of France’s National Navy Museum. He has published many books on the ocean.
Director general for foreign policy, Ministry of foreign affairs, Costa Rica
Director general for foreign policy, Ministry of foreign affairs, Costa Rica
Director General for Foreign Policy of Costa Rica. Career Diplomat since 2001. Lawyer and Notary Public. MBA studies on Marketing. Diploma on Law of the Sea and Ocean Policy. Wide experience in multilateral negotiations on Human Rights, Sustainable Development, Law of the Sea, Climate Change and Tourism. President of the Assembly of the State Parties to UNCLOS 2016-2017.
Minister of environment and energy, Greece
Minister of environment and energy, Greece
Theodoros was born in 1959 in Athens. He is an economist. Member of Parliament for New Democracy (2022-2023). Minister of Environment and Energy from June 2023. Alternate Minister of Finance, responsible for Fiscal Policy and responsible for preparing and coordinating the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” (2020-2023). Deputy Minister of Fiscal Policy (2019-2020), Member of the European Parliament (2009-2014), Secretary General for International Economic Relations and Development Cooperation (2006-2009), Municipal Councilor, Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Athens (2003-2006), responsible for preparing for the 2004 Olympic Games. From 1990 to 1993 he served as Advisor to Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis and Head of the Prime Minister’s Planning and Communication Office.
Theodoros also served as President and Director General of the E21 Research Centre (1994-2001). He was the last President of Drasi (2014-2019), which suspended its activity to support New Democracy.
Theodoros has worked in advertising and communication since 1985 and he has founded four companies in the fields of communication (1994-1999), crisis management (2000-2006) and agricultural production & processing (2014-2019).
Theodoros studied economics in Greece (University of Athens) and business administration (MBA) in England (City University, London) and received a master’s degree from the British Market Research Society in Market Research. He has received a PhD from the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Athens, entitled: “Social tolerance to corruption”.
Theodoros is married to Eleni Papapanou, has two daughters, Marianna and Irene and four granddaughters.
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
“How to” sessions and Innovation showcase sessions
Director, SeaGrown
Director, SeaGrown
Director, Sea Grown
Director, Sea Grown
With an international profile in marine science Laura is Professor of Oceans, Climate and Society at the University of York. She has led major research programmes exploring the far reaches of the ocean from the Antarctic to the deep sea – developing expertise in marine biodiversity, marine pollution, and carbon-climate interactions. In 2018 she co-founded SeaGrown – the UK’s first offshore seaweed farm – where she is the Science Director. Her background across science, education and industry provides a unique perspective on the role of regenerative aquaculture on the future health of the oceans.
Sponsored by Ocean Sewage Alliance
Four-fifths of the world’s wastewater is released into the environment without treatment, harming people and aquatic habitats. Meanwhile, over 40% of the global population lacks access to safely managed sanitation services. On top of being a serious public health issue, pollution from sewage and wastewater affects many industries that rely on the ocean, including tourism, fishing and offshore aquaculture, and contributes to coral damage and biodiversity loss. This session will analyse sewage and wastewater treatment and discuss how to move from traditional solutions to intersection and circularity. It will also explore how to raise awareness of the many harms that sewage and wastewater cause to the ocean and to public health. Participants will discover new ways to take action against ocean pollution from sewage and wastewater.
How to sessions are for small, focused groups of subject-matter experts, will run parallel to the main agenda and during the networking breaks. Participation in these sessions are by invite only.
Chief resilience officer, Lagos
Chief resilience officer, Lagos
Folayinka Dania is chief resilience officer for Lagos State and chief executive of the Lagos State Resilience Office. She co-ordinates implementation of the Lagos Resilience Strategy and other resilience-building initiatives in collaboration with state government ministries, departments and agencies, with the goal of ensuring that the state continues to thrive, adapt and grow sustainably.
Conservation scientist and water pollution program lead, Wildlife Conservation Society
Conservation scientist and water pollution program lead, Wildlife Conservation Society
Amelia Wenger is an associate conservation scientist with WCS’s global coral-reef conservation and science programmes, and a research fellow at the University of Queensland in Australia. Her research investigates how land-use change and pollution influence coral reefs, and how to better manage these impacts. Passionate about integrated approaches to conservation, Ms Wenger is the lead principal investigator of the Improving Coastal Health working group through the Science for Nature and People Partnership, which is developing decision guides for ocean-friendly sanitation that can meet human and ecosystem health goals. She also serves on the inaugural steering committee of the Ocean Sewage Alliance.
Executive director, Ocean Sewage Alliance
Executive director, Ocean Sewage Alliance
Vice president engineering, Running Tide
Vice president engineering, Running Tide
Alberto has over 15 years of experience in Product Development, New Technology Introduction and Strategic Innovation in multiple sectors, diverse regions and in numerous enterprise realities, from single-digit startups to global corporations. Alberto runs the Engineering group at Running Tide, which develops and implements all technology deployed by RT for ocean model building, intervention verification and CDR MRV
Global director of impact, Forum for the Future
Global director of impact, Forum for the Future
Martin Koehring is global director of impact at the international sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future. He leads Forum’s programmatic work (which focuses on the food and energy transitions and the purpose of business); its change-making “practice”; and overall programmatic quality and monitoring, evaluation and learning. Before joining Forum Mr Koehring was head of Economist Impact’s World Ocean Initiative and led Economist Impact’s sustainability, climate change and natural-resources practice in the EMEA region. He is a trustee of the New Economics Foundation (a think-tank focusing on social, economic and environmental justice) and sits on the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Inclusive Economies Advisory Group and the Sustainable Brands Turkey global advisory board.
Sponsored by Standard Chartered
A series of conservation targets and industry-specific decarbonisation goals have been set for 2030. Achieving these means combining sustainable economic activity with ocean conservation. There is no single bullet to reach the targets—but there is more chance of success with an integrated approach. This session will explore how to develop financing mechanisms to achieve conservation and decarbonisation goals. Speakers and participants will discuss how to create solutions from the bottom up as well from the top down. What can sovereigns do to create mechanisms for the sustainable ocean economy and ocean conservation, by working on debt-for-nature swaps and blue bonds? How can local community organisations develop innovative mechanisms with impact from the bottom up? The working group will discuss how to get ministries, central banks, philanthropists and the private sector on the same page, to provide certainty and make deals go faster. Participants will share ideas on how to demonstrate to stakeholders the potential trajectory of small projects, and the opportunities for scaling.
How to sessions are for small, focused groups of subject-matter experts, will run parallel to the main agenda and during the networking breaks. Participation in these sessions are by invite only.
Executive director, Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA)
Executive director, Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA)
Karen Sack is co-founder and executive director of the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA), a collaboration between the private sector, governments and civil society to build resilience in regions and communities most vulnerable to ocean risk by pioneering finance and insurance products that incentivise investment in nature-based solutions. Ms Sack was previously CEO of Ocean Unite. Before that she was senior director for international oceans at the Pew Charitable Trusts, and led Greenpeace International’s political and business unit and its oceans campaign. She has spearheaded global campaigns to secure a high-seas biodiversity treaty, establish marine reserves and sanctuaries, protect sharks and end illegal fishing and high-seas bottom-trawling.
Biodiversity head, Standard Chartered
Biodiversity head, Standard Chartered
Chief executive, Ocean Generation
Chief executive, Ocean Generation
Ocean Generation exists to restore a sustainable relationship between humanity and the ocean. Its award-winning documentary “A Plastic Ocean” was named by Sir David Attenborough as “one of the most important films of our time”. Richard Hill brings over 30 years of international business experience to his role as chief executive officer, having previously worked for Standard Chartered, Imperial Brands and Fontem Ventures.
Coordinator, Latin American Marine Educators Network, RELATO
Coordinator, Latin American Marine Educators Network, RELATO
Chief executive and co-founder, Sway
Chief executive and co-founder, Sway
Principal investigator, Nereid Biomaterials
Principal investigator, Nereid Biomaterials
Melissa Omand is an Oceanographer with broad interdisciplinary interests, applying her training in physics and physical oceanography to examine biogeochemical and ecological processes throughout the upper ocean and twilight zone. She designs low-cost instrumentation that will ultimately help quantify organic carbon fluxes over distributed, persistent scales. Melissa earned a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Guelph in 2004. After graduation she spent time canoe guiding and skiing, and then returned to Guelph to work on simulations of x-ray induced emissions by Martian rocks (observed by the NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity) in the PIXE group of Dr. Iain Campbell. Her desire to combine physics and earth science led her to the PhD program in Physical Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography under advisors Drs. Falk Feddersen and Peter Franks. Her graduate work focused upon the transport and mixing of nutrients and red tide organisms in the inner shelf and surfzone. After graduation in 2011, she moved to Cape Cod, where she was a postdoctoral associate with Dr. Amala Mahadevan at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Since January 2015, she has held a faculty position at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography and was recently promoted to Associate Professor.
President and co-chair, Mission Blue
President and co-chair, Mission Blue
Sylvia Earle is president and chairman of Mission Blue/The Sylvia Earle Alliance. She is an oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer with experience as a field research scientist, government official and director for several corporate and non-profit organisations. Ms Earle is a National Geographic Society explorer in residence.
Aquanaut, oceanographic explorer, environmental advocate, founder, Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center and Proteus Ocean Group
Aquanaut, oceanographic explorer, environmental advocate, founder, Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center and Proteus Ocean Group
Fabien Cousteau’s first experience with scuba was at the age of 4, and since then his life has been immersed in ocean exploration and conservation. In 2014 Mr Cousteau led a team of aquanauts on Mission 31, the longest science expedition at Aquarius, the only remaining underwater marine laboratory. This inspired him to found Proteus Ocean Group with a vision to build a new state-of-the-art modular habitat to facilitate ground-breaking marine research and exploration. PROTEUS is slated for deployment off the coast of Curaçao. Mr Cousteau founded the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Centre (FCOLC) to drive positive environmental change in the marine world.
head of research and development, Zerocircle
head of research and development, Zerocircle
Supported by Blancpain
Significant progress has been made on global agreements for MPAs, with momentum to continue. What makes an MPA effective, and more than just a “paper park”? Which monitoring and management initiatives are making an impact on MPAs?
Chief scientist and board member, Oceano Azul Foundation
Chief scientist and board member, Oceano Azul Foundation
Emanuel Gonçalves is a board member and chief scientist of the Oceano Azul Foundation. He is associate professor at ISPA – Instituto Universitário in Lisbon and vice-director of MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre. He has been involved in the creation, monitoring and implementation of Marine Protected Areas in several regions, including discussions about the high seas. Mr Gonçalves was deputy head of the Portuguese Task Group for Maritime Affairs, which developed his country’s National Ocean Strategy, and coordinated the EU group leading negotiations to approve the CBD scientific criteria for identifying ecologically or biologically significant areas (EBSAs) in the marine realm.
Deputy vice-president, Oceana
Deputy vice-president, Oceana
Vera Coelho is Oceana’s deputy vice-president in Europe, where she leads the organisation’s campaigns and its policy, communications and science work. She is a political scientist with 20 years’ experience working with national, European and global environmental NGOs to protect freshwater and saltwater ecosystems. Before joining Oceana Ms Coelho worked with The Pew Charitable Trusts to secure EU support and leadership for marine conservation and fisheries management. Prior to this she worked at Wetlands International and at Seas At Risk on advocacy strategies for the adoption of EU environmental legislation, fisheries policy and regulation, and international treaties and agreements on climate and biodiversity.
Director-general, marine planning and conservation, fisheries and oceans, Canada
Director-general, marine planning and conservation, fisheries and oceans, Canada
Kathy Graham has been the Director General of Marine Planning and Conservation at Canada’s federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) since April 2021. In her current role, she is responsible for
the design and implementation of several of Canada’s major horizontal initiatives related to marine planning and conservation, notably:
The Government of Canada’s efforts to achieve 25% of conserved ocean space by 2025, and 30% by 2030, in collaboration with other federal departments, agencies, and a wide-range of external partners and stakeholders
The development and implementation of Canada’s protection standards for marine protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures
Leading two of four Project Finance for Permanence agreements announced by the Prime Minister of Canada, during the 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, to support Indigenous-led conservation efforts in Canada’s North (with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association) and in British Columbia’s Northern Shelf Bioregion (Great Bear Sea Initiative)
Advancing marine spatial planning in five of Canada’s bioregions
The development of Canada’s ocean noise strategy to coordinate the efforts of more than a dozen federal government departments and agencies in mitigating the impacts of ocean noise
Advancing data integration to support decision-making through geospatial data and innovative modelling tools.
Building on her previous experience at DFO as Senior Director of Marine Spatial Planning (2019-2021), and having held various executive positions at Environment and Climate Change Canada (2012-2019),
Kathy brings a wealth of leadership experience in collaborating on a wide range of complex files and initiatives by bringing people together, creating a shared vision and achieving common goals and outcomes while leveraging innovative ideas for program delivery.
Kathy holds a Common Law degree from the University of Ottawa, and a Civil Law degree from the Université de Sherbrooke. She earned Bachelor degrees in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Ottawa. She is currently pursuing a Certificate Program in Public Sector Leadership and Governance through the University of Ottawa’s Odell House.
Director, marine protected area of Cap d'Agde, France
Director, marine protected area of Cap d'Agde, France
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
A flourishing “blue-carbon” ecosystem—that uses nature to capture and store carbon— conserves coastal habitats and provides coastal protection. This session will lay out ways to develop effective blue-carbon projects, with a focus on policy intervention, funding, implementation and engagement with local communities.
Director, environment and sustainability, EBRD
Director, environment and sustainability, EBRD
Adonai Herrera-Martínez is director of environment and sustainability at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He leads the team determining the Paris alignment and green-finance attribution of projects, post-signing monitoring of impacts, and the development of the biodiversity and blue-economy agenda. From 2017 to 2019 Mr Herrera-Martínez was advisor to the bank’s president. Prior to this he co-ordinated sustainability activities for the bank in Turkey. He previously worked at the UN Development Programme in New York and Dakar, and at CERN in Geneva.
Professor of marine science, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Professor of marine science, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Carlos M. Duarte is professor of Red Sea ecology at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, executive director of the Global Coral R&D Accelerator Platform, and chief scientist of Oceans 2050, OceanUS and E1Series. He was previously research professor with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and director of the Oceans Institute at the University of Western Australia. Prof. Duarte’s research focuses on understanding the effects of global change in marine ecosystems and developing nature-based solutions to global challenges, including climate change, and evidence-based strategies to rebuild the abundance of marine life by 2050.
Blue carbon coordinator, Plan Vivo
Blue carbon coordinator, Plan Vivo
Evie Ward is blue-carbon co-ordinator at the Plan Vivo Foundation, a charitable foundation that enables smallholders and rural communities to develop nature-based solutions through stewardship of the Plan Vivo Standards. Ms Ward co-ordinates the blue-carbon working stream, including the development of an accessible methodology and a hub to support new projects. She has also assisted in the development and launch of the innovative biodiversity standard, PV Nature. Trained in marine conservation, Ms Ward is passionate about holistic approaches to conservation that benefit both coastal ecosystems and the communities that rely on them.
Co-founder, Gallifrey Foundation
Co-founder, Gallifrey Foundation
John Vermilye is a venture philanthropist and co-founder of the Gallifrey Foundation, which focuses on social enterprise education and marine conservation. He is also co-chair of Mission Blue. Mr Vermilye began his career in airline operations and was senior vice-president at the International Air Transport Association, IATA. After the September 11th attacks he was an advisor to the US Transportation Security Administration and created the Travel Sentry system for luggage locks used by security agencies globally.
Whether it is alternative fuels, retrofitting ships and ports, voyage optimisation or energy efficiency at sea, there are many “green” options for the shipping industry. A single initiative will not be sufficient; several will be required. Which are the most promising ones, and how, in combination, might they make shipping green?
President, Clean Shipping Coalition
President, Clean Shipping Coalition
John is Shipping Policy Director at Seas At Risk, a Brussels-based ocean conservation organisation, and President of the Clean Shipping Coalition, and has three decades of experience of how shipping impacts ocean health and of the processes to tackle this at UN and regional level.
Head, projects implementation, department of partnerships and projects, IMO
Head, projects implementation, department of partnerships and projects, IMO
As head of projects in the Department of Partnerships and Projects at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Gyorgyi Gurban leads more than 20 global projects and project teams, supporting developing countries in their efforts towards greener shipping and more sustainable practices. Before joining the IMO she managed environmental projects taking an ecosystems approach at the UN Environment Programme’s Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP). Prior to this Ms Gurban worked in the European Commission as a sustainable development officer, and led the climate negotiation preparations of the European Union as climate change attaché during the Hungarian presidency of the EU.
Executive board member, Port of Lisbon
Executive board member, Port of Lisbon
Chief executive, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
Chief executive, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
Secretary-general, Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association
Secretary-general, Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association
Madadh MacLaine is founder and CEO of Zero Emissions Maritime Technology (ZEM-Tech), secretary-general of the Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association (ZESTAs), co-founder of the International Windships Association (IWSA), and founder director of Fair Winds Trust, a sustainable-development NGO. Ms MacLaine has a background in hydrogen water electrolysis and maritime systems, having represented ITM Power in the maritime industry. She has worked in zero-emissions shipping since she began designs for a ZE multi-access cargo ship in 2000. Frustrated by the lack of available technology, she founded ZESTAs in 2019 to promote the interests of the zero-emissions ship technology industry. ZESTAs was recently granted consultative status at the International Maritime Organisation.
Sponsored by Deutsche Bank
This session will focus on how investors can identify companies that combine strong growth potential with a truly sustainable business model. Speakers and participants will establish which business activities are positive for the ocean, which ones are neutral and do not harm it, and which business models will never be compliant with a sustainable blue economy. They will explain the key performance indicators that can inform decisions that align with sustainable goals. The discussion will also provide guidance on how businesses can effectively communicate their sustainability commitments to attract investment and foster stakeholder trust.
How to sessions are for small, focused groups of subject-matter experts, will run parallel to the main agenda and during the networking breaks. Participation in these sessions are by invite only.
Executive director, Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA)
Executive director, Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA)
Karen Sack is co-founder and executive director of the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA), a collaboration between the private sector, governments and civil society to build resilience in regions and communities most vulnerable to ocean risk by pioneering finance and insurance products that incentivise investment in nature-based solutions. Ms Sack was previously CEO of Ocean Unite. Before that she was senior director for international oceans at the Pew Charitable Trusts, and led Greenpeace International’s political and business unit and its oceans campaign. She has spearheaded global campaigns to secure a high-seas biodiversity treaty, establish marine reserves and sanctuaries, protect sharks and end illegal fishing and high-seas bottom-trawling.
Chief investment Officer ESG & Global Head of Chief Investment Office Deutsche Bank - Private Bank
Chief investment Officer ESG & Global Head of Chief Investment Office Deutsche Bank - Private Bank
Markus Müller is global head of the Chief Investment Office of the Private Bank, Deutsche Bank, and in 2022 he also took on the role of chief investment officer ESG. He is co-chair of Deutsche Bank’s Nature Advisory Panel. Mr Müller’s research focuses on the structural transformation of economies and societies and on sustainability. He has written several books and articles, most recently “India in the 21st Century: On Its Way to a Post-industrial Economy”, and he is a columnist for Global Policy Journal at Durham University. Mr Müller began his career at Deutsche Bank as executive assistant to the chief economist in DB Research.
Lawyer, finance, energy and infrastructure, Lisbon, Linklaters
Lawyer, finance, energy and infrastructure, Lisbon, Linklaters
Maria de Athayde Tavares leads Linklaters’ public and administrative law and regulatory practice in the finance and energy & infrastructure department in Lisbon. She has over 15 years’ experience advising domestic and international players in all regulatory, environmental and administrative law issues relevant to M&A, investment structuring and project financing in highly regulated sectors, especially energy and infrastructure. Alongside her professional career as a lawyer, Ms Tavares is highly engaged with the blue economy, being a member of the non-profit association BLUEBIO ALLIANCE (BBA) since its inception and a member of its executive board from 2016 to 2021.
Executive director, Pollination
Executive director, Pollination
Account executive, NatureMetrics
Account executive, NatureMetrics
Global director of impact, Forum for the Future
Global director of impact, Forum for the Future
Martin Koehring is global director of impact at the international sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future. He leads Forum’s programmatic work (which focuses on the food and energy transitions and the purpose of business); its change-making “practice”; and overall programmatic quality and monitoring, evaluation and learning. Before joining Forum Mr Koehring was head of Economist Impact’s World Ocean Initiative and led Economist Impact’s sustainability, climate change and natural-resources practice in the EMEA region. He is a trustee of the New Economics Foundation (a think-tank focusing on social, economic and environmental justice) and sits on the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Inclusive Economies Advisory Group and the Sustainable Brands Turkey global advisory board.
Sponsored by Purina
This session will identify how to achieve large-scale marine-ecosystem restoration for maximum long-term impact. Speakers and participants will discuss how to engage the right cross-sector partners and collaborate to create an ecosystem approach. They will highlight common gaps, barriers and limitations, and identify ways to overcome them. The session will establish where support is needed in terms of investment, science and research, regulatory and policy frameworks, stakeholder engagement, clear methodology, and efficient data-collection and monitoring tools—and assess how to secure this support.
How to sessions are for small, focused groups of subject-matter experts, will run parallel to the main agenda and during the networking breaks. Participation in these sessions are by invite only.
Senior director of impact investing and ecosystems services, World Wildlife Fund
Senior director of impact investing and ecosystems services, World Wildlife Fund
Paul Dobbins is senior director of impact investing and ecosystems services on the WWF-US aquaculture team. He identifies companies for impact investment, stakeholder collaboration and research opportunities that will accelerate the growth of seaweed and shellfish farming. His project, Advancing Aquaculture for Climate Gains, includes research into the potential market for feed additives for ruminants and the development of new markets for seaweed biomass. Before joining WWF Mr Dobbins operated shellfish farms and spent a decade leading the development of the first open-ocean commercial kelp farms in the US.
Ocean regeneration lead, Purina Europe
Ocean regeneration lead, Purina Europe
Lisa Boulton is the ocean regeneration lead at Nestlé Purina PetCare Europe, based in Switzerland and has been part of the Nestlé Group since 2014. The current focus of her role involves the potential use of seaweed bio-stimulants in regenerative agriculture and the restoration of marine eco-systems across Europe. Through her passion for the broader topic of algae, Ms Boulton also serves on the Strategic Advisory Board for the UNGC’s Global Seaweed Coalition. She brings extensive experience in managing large-scale, multi-national programs to the challenge of ocean restoration.
Deputy director-general, directorate-general for maritime affairs and fisheries, European Commission
Deputy director-general, directorate-general for maritime affairs and fisheries, European Commission
Kęstutis Sadauskas, a Lithuanian national, is deputy director-general in the Directorate-General (DG) for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission, a post he has held since April 2022. Before this he spent seven years as director for circular economy and green growth at the commission’s DG Environment. From 2010 to 2014 Mr Sadauskas was head of the cabinet of commissioner Algirdas Šemeta responsible for taxation, customs, anti-fraud, audit and statistics. Before this he served as head of the Representation of the European Commission in Vilnius. From 1993 to 2006 Mr Sadauskas worked in the Lithuanian Foreign Service on multilateral issues.
Chief operating officer, Seaforester
Chief operating officer, Seaforester
Ari Greenberg is an entrepreneur having started and sold two technology companies in the hospitality space, most recently BCV in 2019. Since then he has held executive roles in other climate tech companies including Development Seed and Brightline Trains where as CCO he led the commercial effort to launch America’s first private high speed rail company.
Today he is COO of Seaforester, leading the efforts to scale and commercialize Seaforester’s European restoration efforts.
Chief executive, Ocean Generation
Chief executive, Ocean Generation
Ocean Generation exists to restore a sustainable relationship between humanity and the ocean. Its award-winning documentary “A Plastic Ocean” was named by Sir David Attenborough as “one of the most important films of our time”. Richard Hill brings over 30 years of international business experience to his role as chief executive officer, having previously worked for Standard Chartered, Imperial Brands and Fontem Ventures.
Nature-based solutions contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation by fostering marine ecosystems and sequestering carbon. How can public-private partnerships, local communities and NGOs contribute to the growth of blue nature-based solutions and their long-term impact?
Executive board member, Ecomares
Executive board member, Ecomares
Adriana Alzate is an ecologist and marine biologist who explores the causes of global biodiversity patterns and species’ geographical distributions, a key predictor of extinction risk. She aims to contribute insights to prevent biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse. Ms Alzate studies marine, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems to gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities for conserving marine life. Throughout her career she has aspired to spark an appreciation for the delicate balance within marine ecosystems and inspire sustainable practices to preserve our planet’s rich and diverse biological tapestry.
Marine and climate change ecologist, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Marine and climate change ecologist, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Professor Ana Queirós is a Principal Investigator at Plymouth Marine Laboratory and internationally recognised expert on seaweed blue carbon and climate change ecology. She specialises in advancing ocean habitat management knowledge including global blue carbon capacity and ecosystem-level climate change signals. She has an extensive track record in co-development of nature-based solutions and is leading research within globally distributed programmes towards building climate resilience into marine conservation, harvesting and marine spatial planning, including blue carbon habitat management. She engages with policy, industry and the private sector, holds various Chairing and Committee roles and is a Professor at the University of Exeter. Her work can be found in international and UK agenda setting documents.
The shipping industry uses more than 300m tonnes of fossil fuels every year. What exactly does insetting in shipping mean? How could it enable a transition from fossil fuels to sustainable biofuels? How does insetting help cargo owners move their freight more sustainably and reduce their carbon footprint?
Senior director, Neoteric
Senior director, Neoteric
Andre has more than a decade of experience managing complex clean energy and sustainability projects, with a special focus on developing multi-stakeholder initiatives. Previously, at ENGIE Impact, he led the firm’s green fuels work in the United States, and helped a range of clients evaluate clean hydrogen and other alternative fuels technologies and policies. He also led the first-ever collective procurement for sustainable aviation fuel on behalf of the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance. Before joining ENGIE, Andre worked on industrial decarbonization at the U.S. Department of Energy, and was a Fellow at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, where he helped advance market-based climate policies.
How can a balance be found between the economy, environment and local communities? How can MPAs be implemented with consideration for the ocean-based industries that are adopting sustainable practices?
Chief executive, Salmon Scotland
Chief executive, Salmon Scotland
Tavish Scott is chief executive of Salmon Scotland, which is the voice of Scottish farmed salmon, the UK’s biggest food export, representing companies in Scotland, across the UK and internationally. Mr Scott was previously head of external affairs for Scottish Rugby (2019-20) and Member of the Scottish Parliament for Shetland (1999-2019). He served as a Scottish government minister with various portfolios, held several Scottish parliamentary positions and is a former leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. Mr Scott is non-executive director of People for Places Scotland, a social-housing investment charity, and a visiting professor for the Aberdeen Business School at Robert Gordon University.
Senior Scientist, National Council of Research (CSIC), Spain
Senior Scientist, National Council of Research (CSIC), Spain
Rafael Sardá is a socio-ecologist and since 1991 has been senior scientist at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and associate professor in the Operations, Innovation and Data Sciences Department at ESADE Business School in Barcelona. He is also a lecturer for the Global Alliance in Management Education (CEMS). Mr Sardá develops research and applications on the frontier between social and natural systems—how they work and interact, how to cope with present and emerging, local and global environmental problems, and what role science and regulations might play in addressing these. He represents CSIC in international expert-group consultations on coastal and marine research.
Innovation is crucial to accelerate the transition to sustainable, oceans-related applications and services, and to unlock the full potential of the blue economy. This roundtable discussion will focus on how to bolster innovation for the sustainable ocean economy.
Many entrepreneurs and innovators are working on pioneering projects that could propel blue-economy growth in diverse sectors from ocean energy to ocean monitoring and protection technologies. But they face considerable challenges including a lack of access to adequate funding and support.
The route to market for new technology solutions is complex. Blue innovation often requires a combination of new solutions, and mechanical and digital prototypes, which makes it capital intensive and high risk.
Participants will discuss the obstacles facing ocean innovators in Europe and the challenges associated with the development of bankable and sustainable business models. They will highlight where funding support and advice are needed.
Roundtable discussions are by invite only. Please email your interest to [email protected]
Americas editor, The Economist
Americas editor, The Economist
Hal Hodson is The Economist’s Asia technology correspondent, focusing on the electronics manufacturing industry and the implications of tensions between America and China. A graduate in astrophysics, he joined the paper in 2016 as science and technology correspondent. Before that he worked for the New Scientist in Boston and London.
“How to” sessions and Innovation showcase sessions
Supported by Pew Trust and The Nature Conservancy
Debt conversions represent a significant opportunity to generate financing for nature and climate action and in some cases to reduce developing countries’ debt burdens. With several successful deals completed and ocean-conservation projects under way, there is increasing interest from development-finance institutions, NGOs, private banks, reinsurers and institutional investors to scale these projects. The debt burdens of global-south countries and the current high-interest-rate environment has put pressure on government budgets, creating an urgent need for new sources of funding for conservation—particularly marine conservation.
There is an opportunity to scale and increase the efficiency of debt conversions for nature and climate by increasing the capacity of these stakeholders to understand, negotiate, structure and finance these deals. In particular, the deals require viable loan guarantees and political-risk-insurance facilities, and investors need a better understanding of the financial structures and conservation outcomes that are possible. Taking full advantage of the opportunity will require additional capacity of many market players to deliver these products.
This roundtable discussion will outline how to provide investors with a better understanding of the financial structures and conservation outcomes that are possible. Participants will discuss how to provide additional capacity to deliver the products and take full advantage of the opportunity they offer. They will identify how to make deals more efficient and maximise the value generated for conservation.
Roundtable discussions are by invite only. Please email your interest to [email protected]
Briefings editor, The Economist
Briefings editor, The Economist
Oliver Morton is The Economist’s briefings editor. Before joining the newspaper in 2009 as energy and environment editor, he worked at Nature and Wired. Mr Morton specialises in the energy business, climate science and policy, and other green issues. As a writer on scientific, technological and planetary change, he is the author of four books: “Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination and the Birth of a World” (2002), “Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet” (2007), “The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World” (2015) and “The Moon: A History for the Future” (2019). They all deal with understanding and imagining planetary processes, especially climate change on Earth.
Chief executive, Rewind.earth
Chief executive, Rewind.earth
Ram Amar is CEO of Rewind.earth, a carbon-removal startup based in Israel. His background is in physics, computer science and entrepreneurship. Since selling his previous startup, Alooma, to Google, Mr Amar has worked on mitigating the climate crisis. He co-founded a think-tank and advocacy project for a net-zero Israel, started a community of entrepreneurs transitioning to climate tech and, after three years of research, co-founded Rewind.
Chief executive, Plymouth Marine Laboratory and PML Applications
Chief executive, Plymouth Marine Laboratory and PML Applications
Professor Icarus Allen,Chief Executive of Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) and PML Applications
Icarus has a broad range of experience ranging from marine ecosystem modelling scientist to Director of Science and Chief Executive of PML, an award-winning organization.
He has further developed PML Applications, the commercial arm of PML, which donates its profits back to society through funding PML’s world-leading and cutting edge research.
Icarus holds national and international Chairing and Committee roles and has a multidisciplinary scientific background.
Under his leadership PML has collaborations in over 60 countries and he himself has led and participated in over 30 (inter)national programmes, published over 110 peer and 40 non-peer reviewed papers.
Secretary-general, Forum Oceano
Secretary-general, Forum Oceano
Project manager, HUB Azul
Project manager, HUB Azul
Rodrigo Oliveira is a seasoned project management professional (PMP)® and business developer with extensive experience in the infrastructures and the blue economy sector. Currently serving as a project manager at Forum Oceano, Rodrigo is the special liaison between Hub Azul Project and transformative initiatives such as the Portugal Blue Digital Hub and the Naval Roadmap for Decarbonization. With a background in environmental engineering and natural resources, he specializes in driving sustainability and innovation within the blue industry. Rodrigo is dedicated to advancing the resilience and competitiveness of the blue economy through strategic leadership and project management expertise.
In the fight against climate change, blue nature-based projects play a critical role for marine ecosystems and as carbon sinks. Developing nature-based projects is a multi-stakeholder process including local community, finance, policy, scientists and educators. Currently, skill-building and meticulous project planning are lacking to ensure scale and long-term impact from blue projects. This session will demonstrate practical examples of developing nature-based solutions and how collaboration is essential to achieving successful outcomes for the ocean.
General manager, Mary Kay Portugal
General manager, Mary Kay Portugal
As general manager of Mary Kay Portugal, Sandra Silva oversees the strategic direction, operations, and growth of the direct-selling beauty brand. She is committed to fostering a culture of diversity, inclusion and empowerment within the organisation and is a strong advocate of corporate social responsibility and sustainability, supporting those causes and initiatives guided by Mary Kay’s mission of “Enriching Women’s Lives”.
Associate professor, social-ecological systems research, University of Plymouth
Associate professor, social-ecological systems research, University of Plymouth
Dr Siân Rees is Associate Professor of Social-Ecological Systems (Research) and Associate Head of
School (Research) for the School of Biological and Marine Sciences at the University of Plymouth, UK.
She is a social scientist with a strong track record of research that influences marine conservation,
management and policy. Siân currently leads the Marine Social Science Research Unit within the
University of Plymouth’s Marine Conservation Research Group. She is motivated to enable
environmental science to link more strongly to human well-being and economic prosperity. Her
team are impact-focussed, co creating and delivering research in partnership with statutory nature
conservation agencies, sea users, NGOs, government departments and international organisations to
support the sustainable and fair use of marine ecosystems. Sian leads a number of international and
national research projects. She is an advisor for both NERC and Defra’s Marine Natural Capital
Ecosystem Assessment.
Programme and risk director, ORRAA
Programme and risk director, ORRAA
Chip leads the development of ORRAA’s Product Development Pipeline to catalyse, scale and accelerate investment into coastal and marine natural capital, delivered by ORRAA members and partners. He spent 10 years working at AXA XL, identifying ways in which risk transfer mechanisms and finance solutions can be best used to build resilience to ocean related risks. He established AXA’s Ocean Risk Initiative which included developing and launching a Coastal Risk Index to integrate coastal ecosystems into insurance risk models; working with partners to develop the scientific basis to create a mangrove insurance product; as well as identifying insurance pathways to prevent Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Co founder & chief executive, Fair Carbon
Co founder & chief executive, Fair Carbon
Diana Denke is chief executive of Fair Carbon, a Swiss non-profit organisation working to protect and restore the world’s marine and coastal ecosystems. Fair Carbon envisions a world where a high-integrity carbon and nature market is booming and is an integral part of the global economy. Ms Denke previously led the Climate & Nature platform at KOIS, an impact-investment advisory firm, designing and structuring finance instruments that help regenerate the Earth. She has been building on her background in management consulting, having worked at Systemiq, an environmental think-and-do tank, and Bain & Company, a strategy consultancy, advising clients from the corporate, non-profit and public sectors.
Current fuel options for ships are not sustainable. What are the alternatives? What is the potential of biofuel? Is LNG still an option? How can adequate quantities of alternative fuels be produced? If demand outpaces supply for alternative fuels, what are the potential solutions? What are ports doing to be ready to bunker alternative fuels?
Vice-president, environment policy, World Shipping Council
Vice-president, environment policy, World Shipping Council
Chair, San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority
Chair, San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority
Jim Wunderman is president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, a public-policy and advocacy organisation formed in 1945 that works to shape the future of the San Franciso Bay Area to maintain it as the most innovative, globally competitive and sustainable region in the world. He has positioned the council as a leading voice for business and the economy on a wide range of issues, including housing, transport and climate resilience, and is chair of the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA).
Chief business officer, bulk, Port of Roenne
Chief business officer, bulk, Port of Roenne
Director of Strategy and Communications, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS)
Director of Strategy and Communications, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS)
Stuart Neil is the Director of Strategy and Communications for the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) where he leads engagement with, energy ministries, industry sectors, communications and helps guide the decarbonisation agenda of the ICS Secretariat based in London.
Stuart began his career in the British Foreign Service before moving to the private sector advising governments and international businesses on communication and engagement strategies. Stuart spent 9 years as a Press Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II before moving to the energy sector. He was a Senior Director at the World Energy Council and later became the senior advisor to the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Sustainable Energy.
Secretary-general, Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association
Secretary-general, Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association
Madadh MacLaine is founder and CEO of Zero Emissions Maritime Technology (ZEM-Tech), secretary-general of the Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association (ZESTAs), co-founder of the International Windships Association (IWSA), and founder director of Fair Winds Trust, a sustainable-development NGO. Ms MacLaine has a background in hydrogen water electrolysis and maritime systems, having represented ITM Power in the maritime industry. She has worked in zero-emissions shipping since she began designs for a ZE multi-access cargo ship in 2000. Frustrated by the lack of available technology, she founded ZESTAs in 2019 to promote the interests of the zero-emissions ship technology industry. ZESTAs was recently granted consultative status at the International Maritime Organisation.
Supported by The Nippon Foundation and Back to Blue Initiative
Ocean acidification poses an existential threat to many forms of marine life and thus to food chains, livelihoods and economies. What can be done to avoid its worst effects?
Executive director, International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance)
Executive director, International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance)
Jessie Turner is the Executive Director of the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance). A voluntary initiative of national and subnational governments, the OA Alliance works to raise ambition for climate action and transform the global response to climate-ocean change.
As Executive Director, Jessie sets the strategic direction of the OA Alliance and develops and carries out annual programming, including contributions to international convenings. She also establishes partnerships across a variety of disciplines and coalitions, deploys communications strategies across multiple scales, and supports members in the development of practicable ocean acidification adaptation and resilience strategies.
Jessie served as lead facilitator to the Pacific Coast Collaborative (PCC)’s Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Working Group between 2014 and 2023. The PCC is a collaboration between the U.S. states of California, Oregon, Washington, and the Canadian Province of British Columbia working together on climate issues that impact the North American West Coast region.
Jessie has 15 years of experience working in public policy development, advocacy, and stakeholder engagement at local to international scales. She has worked on wide-ranging issues, including affordable homeownership, healthcare, energy efficiency, food waste, climate, and marine policy.
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
Product manager, Notpla
Product manager, Notpla
Supported by The Nippon Foundation and Back to Blue Initiative
Minimising and addressing the impacts of ocean acidification is integral to UN Sustainable Development Goal 14. How are national ocean-acidification action plans being developed, and what more is needed?
Director of science & deputy chief executive, Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML)
Director of science & deputy chief executive, Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML)
Steve Widdicombe is a marine ecologist whose work has increased understanding of the effects of ocean acidification on the marine environment. He is director of science at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, co-chair of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) Executive Council and co-leads the UN Ocean Decade’s Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability (OARS) programme. Professor Widdicombe sits on the Convention on Biological Diversity’s ad hoc technical expert group for operationalising the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. He is an advisor for Back to Blue and serves as focal point for the UN Sustainable Development Goals Target 14.3 Community on Ocean Action.
Deputy secretary, OSPAR
Deputy secretary, OSPAR
Programme specialist, ocean carbon sources and sinks, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), UNESCO
Programme specialist, ocean carbon sources and sinks, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), UNESCO
Kirsten Isensee has been a programme specialist at the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO since 2012. Her work focuses on ocean carbon sources and sinks, trying to distinguish the natural and anthropogenic influences on the marine environment in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Ms Isensee provides technical assistance to emerging ocean-science activities and facilitates collaboration between scientists, policymakers and stakeholders, via networks such as the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network, the International Blue Carbon Initiative, the International Partnership for Blue Carbon and the Integrated Ocean Carbon Research Working Group.
Senior director environment and sustainability, Port of Seattle
Senior director environment and sustainability, Port of Seattle
Sandra serves as Senior Director Environment and Sustainability for the maritime and airport operations of the Port of Seattle. A critical part of this role is leading the Port’s initiative to decarbonize the maritime and aviation industries, advancing sustainable transportation fuels, and planning for a just transition to a clean fuel economy. During her 30-year career she has directed natural resource and utility programs in climate and decarbonization, holistic watershed restoration, threatened species recovery, river and flood management, and wastewater and stormwater utility management. Sandra demonstrates how global and national environmental priorities are implemented on-the-ground at the local level. She has served on the boards of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, the Center for Sustainable Infrastructure and the Coalition for Clean Water.
Japan lead, Impact Initiatives, Economist Impact
Japan lead, Impact Initiatives, Economist Impact
Naka Kondo is an editorial lead of the policy and insights team at Economist Impact, based in Tokyo. As a story-telling specialist she leads research programmes for corporates, foundations and governments seeking evidence-based analysis and insights to bring real-world impact. Ms Kondo is the founder and lead of the multi-year Back to Blue ocean initiative. Her focus areas include ocean health, longevity, education, social infrastructure, art, media and Japan. Before joining The Economist Group in 2014 Ms Kondo was public-relations adviser to Japan’s Cabinet Office, and spent seven years at a US investment bank in the Japanese equities business.
Sponsored by Convex Seascape Survey
Natural habitats on land, like forests and bogs, have long been recognised as carbon sinks, and their protection is increasingly incorporated into national plans to mitigate climate change. But apart from coastal wetlands, ocean carbon has been neglected. Seabed ecosystems represent one of the most extensive habitats on Earth, and research is revealing that they store climate-significant amounts of carbon. Studies also suggest this immense carbon store is threatened by offshore industries that disturb the seabed. This presentation will describe how new interdisciplinary research is estimating the origins, size and distribution of seabed carbon, its exposure risk to human activities, and how protection could enhance the ocean’s role as a carbon sink.
Professor of marine conservation, University of Exeter
Professor of marine conservation, University of Exeter
Callum Roberts is professor of marine conservation at the University of Exeter in the UK and leads the Convex Seascape Survey, an international research programme to unlock the secrets of carbon storage on the world’s continental shelves. His team provided the scientific underpinning for the new ocean protection target—30% by 2030—which was adopted as a global goal at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in 2022. He is author of “The Unnatural History of the Sea” (2007), “Ocean of Life: How Our Seas are Changing” (2013) and “Reef Life: An Underwater Memoir” (2019), and he was lead science adviser for the BBC series “Blue Planet II”.
An increasing number of ship owners are adopting alternative fuels and new technologies to operate more sustainably. As a result, r vessels are being retrofitted or scrapped. What will happen to the large number of existing ships due to be broken down? Which regulations need to be put in place in order to ensure sustainable recycling practices? What does a sustainable shipyard look like? What role do shipyards and ship owners play in the circularity of materials? Who should be held accountable for proper ship recycling?
Executive director and founder, Shipbreaking Platform
Executive director and founder, Shipbreaking Platform
Ingvild Jenssenis Director and Founder of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a global coalition of environmental, human rights and labour rights non-governmental organisations working for sustainable ship recycling. She has since 2005 been the Platform’s spokesperson and represented the coalition in negotiations and advocacy work at the United Nations and European level. Spearheading the Platform’s work on corporate liability, Ingvild has also contributed to several publications on the shipbreaking issue. She holds a MSc in Political Science from the University of Oslo.
Sustainability adviser, Swire Shipping
Sustainability adviser, Swire Shipping
Simon Bennett started his career at sea in 1974 at age 17 as a Navigating Officer Cadet with the Union Castle Line/Clan Line. After a 3-year sabbatical from 1978 to 1981 to take an honours degree at UEA in Norwich, UK, where he read Environmental Science (majoring in Meteorology & Oceanography and minoring in Marine and Coastal Management/Environmental Hazards) he resumed his seagoing career. In mid-1984 he joined Swire Pacific Offshore.
Following several voyages as Master he came ashore in 1991, working as HSE and Country Manager in Brunei and Qatar and Marketing Manager in Dubai, before he moved to his last but one job as General Director operating three of SPO’s new icebreaking Platform Supply Vessels in the Russian Far East.
On returning to Singapore in 2008, he was the inaugural GM for Sustainable Development for Swire Pacific Offshore, Swire Shipping Pte Ltd., and for Swire Bulk Pte Ltd. He retired on 31 Oct 2022 after 38.43 years with the Swire group shipping companies, and is now based in Valencia, Spain.
Simon is on the Board of Trustees of the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) and was a Director of the Singapore Environment Council for the four years up to the end of Jun 2020. He remains a Director of the World Ocean Council Valencia, Spain
Director, regulatory affairs fleet, Hapag-Lloyd
Director, regulatory affairs fleet, Hapag-Lloyd
Programme manager, Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative
Programme manager, Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative
Giulio Venier, Program Manager of Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative, catalyzes positive change in ship recycling. As B Corp Certification expertise and co-founder of Creatives for Climate, he champions sustainability and climate awareness.
Chief executive, Braid Theory
Chief executive, Braid Theory
Ann Carpenter is dedicated to fostering the global blue-economy entrepreneur ecosystem. As chief executive of Braid Theory, a venture-advisory firm providing end-to-end services to support science and engineering-led companies, she is responsible for strategic partnerships. She also advises startups in ocean/maritime, energy and blue biotech. Ms Carpenter is a managing partner of Portugal-based Innofuse Blue, and serves on the boards of Smart Freight Centre, Ocean Exchange and Ocean Community.
Supported by Ocean Visions
While widespread decarbonisation is essential for securing a safe climate, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made clear that, given decarbonisation trajectories, carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is also required to achieve climate targets. Questions remain about whether and to what extent CDR approaches can feasibly and safely scale, but given the magnitude of climate-change challenges, it is important to consider all potential approaches—including mCDR. How can the ocean community gather full information about the safety and efficacy of mCDR, and its impact on ocean health? How can scientists set up controlled trials in the ocean with third-party monitoring, and how will these be funded? What are the roles of governments, policymakers, the private sector and NGOs in advancing understanding of mCDR? How will ethical and social concerns be addressed?
Executive director, Ocean Visions
Executive director, Ocean Visions
Brad Ack is an environmental innovator whose work has spanned diverse geographic regions, biomes and complex challenges, working for both government and NGOs at senior levels. He currently serves as executive director and chief innovation officer at Ocean Visions, a partnership of research institutions, innovators, investors and practitioners of ocean restoration. Ocean Visions is leading efforts to build an ocean-climate agenda that directly addresses the largest cause of damage to the ocean. Mr Ack was previously senior vice-president for oceans at WWF-US, regional director for the Marine Stewardship Council, and executive director of the Puget Sound Recovery Programme in Washington state.
Science director, Environment Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Science director, Environment Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Brett Monoly is science director of the Environment Business Unit for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Perth, Australia. CSIRO Environment brings together experts in climate, atmosphere, catchments, landscapes, rivers, estuaries, coastal areas, shelf- and open-ocean sciences. Mr Monoly has more than 30 years’ experience as a marine, estuarine and freshwater ecologist and fishery scientist in Australia and internationally and has published more than 100 articles, reports and books. He previously worked with the Department of Fisheries for Western Australia and as a senior fisheries scientist within the Oceanic Fisheries Programme of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.
Co-chair of GESAMP Working Group 41
Co-chair of GESAMP Working Group 41
Chris Vivian is a co-chair of GESAMP Working Group 41 on Ocean Interventions for Climate Change Mitigation (formerly the Working Group on Marine Geoengineering). He retired from Cefas, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (a UK government agency) in 2016 after 30 years in an advisory role to the UK government on national and international issues relating to the environmental impacts of human activities in the marine environment. Mr Vivian was a UK delegate in international meetings under the Oslo (now OSPAR) and London conventions dealing with waste disposal at sea in the North-East Atlantic and the whole world, respectively.
Partner and chief scientist, Propeller
Partner and chief scientist, Propeller
Julie Pullen is an oceanographer and meteorologist working on climate resilience and climate solutions. Her expertise spans climate, weather and water, with a focus on Earth-system modelling and observing. An ocean climate-tech investor with Propeller Ventures, Ms Pullen was previously climate strategist at Jupiter Intelligence, an early climate-risk analytics startup. Prior to that she taught ocean engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey and was a Fulbright visiting professor in the Philippines. Ms Pullen serves on the US government’s National Climate Security Roundtable and the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) advisory committee for the Sustainability and Climate Risk programme.
Briefings editor, The Economist
Briefings editor, The Economist
Oliver Morton is The Economist’s briefings editor. Before joining the newspaper in 2009 as energy and environment editor, he worked at Nature and Wired. Mr Morton specialises in the energy business, climate science and policy, and other green issues. As a writer on scientific, technological and planetary change, he is the author of four books: “Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination and the Birth of a World” (2002), “Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet” (2007), “The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World” (2015) and “The Moon: A History for the Future” (2019). They all deal with understanding and imagining planetary processes, especially climate change on Earth.
Supported by World Maritime University-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute
The triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution are affecting our ocean’s health more than we understand. Island nations are in a unique position to help develop innovative ocean solutions because of their vast coastlines and knowledge from local communities. However, the challenges of waste management, plastics pollution, limited economic opportunities and accessibility to global processes are driving inequity in developing ocean-centred solutions to address the triple planetary crisis. This session will explore how to turn the tide through education, financing, local investment in technology and innovation, and the important role women play to ensure island states are not left behind in the transition to a sustainable ocean economy.
Research assistant, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute
Research assistant, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute
Roxanne Graham is a Research Assistant with the NF-WMU ‘Closing the Circle Programme: Marine Debris, Sargassum and Marine Spatial Planning in the Eastern Caribbean, generously funding by The Nippon Foundation, hosted at the World Maritime University (WMU) – Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute. Roxanne completed her Master of Marine Management Degree at Dalhousie University, Canada in December, 2016. Roxanne received her PhD degree at the World Maritime University in October, 2023.
Prior to the start of her graduate studies, Roxanne was a Project Assistant at Roberts Caribbean, and before pursuing PhD, Roxanne taught university courses in Biology, Ecology, and Conservation for four years. Roxanne has experience in conducting environmental consultancies and contributed to several agricultural and environmental related national reports for Grenada.
Roxanne loves fashion and modelling and tied it with her love of conservation by founding and producing a competition called Face of Grenada – Beauty with a Purpose. Roxanne is also the Vice-President of Gaea Conservation Network.
Executive director, The Nippon Foundation
Executive director, The Nippon Foundation
Mr. Mitsuyuki Unno is the Executive Director of The Nippon Foundation, a nongovernmental organization based in Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1962, The Nippon Foundation is Japan’s largest philanthropic foundation, providing support to public-service activities in a variety of fields across national borders. Primary areas of activity include support for children, persons with disabilities, disaster relief, international cooperation, and ocean health with the ultimate goal of achieving a society where all people support one another. As executive director of the ocean affairs department, Mr. Unno has been leading the various ocean related programs include those to develop human capacity and new technologies in the maritime and ocean field. The foundation works with various UN agencies, governments, and academic institutions around the world to address the complex global challenges facing our oceans today.
Research assistant, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute
Research assistant, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute
Dr. Tricia Lovell has over 20 years experience in fisheries management, marine conservation, and ocean governance. She is a research assistant at the World Maritime University and also serves as the Deputy Chief Fisheries Officer in Antigua and Barbuda. She is a UN-Nippon Foundation Fellow and a recent graduate of the World Maritime University where she completed a PhD in Maritime Affairs. Her research focused on the governance of abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear in Eastern Caribbean small-scale fisheries. Tricia is also a member of the pool of experts for the third cycle of the Regular Process.
Tricia has served as the Deputy Chair of Antigua and Barbuda’s Ocean Governance Committee and is part of the maritime boundary negotiation team for Antigua and Barbuda. She has also served as Antigua and Barbuda’s focal point to the Ramsar Convention and the Marine and Coastal focal point to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Tricia’s interests include ocean governance, ALDFG, environmental education, marine and coastal conservation and environmental stewardship.
Deputy premier and minister for home affairs, Bermuda
Deputy premier and minister for home affairs, Bermuda
Project manager, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Project manager, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Global director of impact, Forum for the Future
Global director of impact, Forum for the Future
Martin Koehring is global director of impact at the international sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future. He leads Forum’s programmatic work (which focuses on the food and energy transitions and the purpose of business); its change-making “practice”; and overall programmatic quality and monitoring, evaluation and learning. Before joining Forum Mr Koehring was head of Economist Impact’s World Ocean Initiative and led Economist Impact’s sustainability, climate change and natural-resources practice in the EMEA region. He is a trustee of the New Economics Foundation (a think-tank focusing on social, economic and environmental justice) and sits on the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Inclusive Economies Advisory Group and the Sustainable Brands Turkey global advisory board.
Sponsored by Hub Azul Portugal Network, Portugal Blue Digital Hub and Forum Oceano
Increased climate and ocean data are offering insights into how to fight climate change and develop the blue economy sustainably. More climate-modelling projects will help drive funding for larger blue-impact projects and startups because the data will help identify the demand and need for these new solutions. Speakers and participants will discuss how to use data to help entrepreneurs and businesses develop stronger business plans, which can be catalysed by building innovation and infrastructure networks. They will consider how this will enable them to determine investment opportunities—and make the realistic financial projections needed to scale their projects and diminish the financial risks associated with many blue projects. The working group will also focus on how to engage with stakeholders to bring in more capital and investments in early-stage ventures to catalyse stability and scalability.
How to sessions are for small, focused groups of subject-matter experts, will run parallel to the main agenda and during the networking breaks. Participation in these sessions are by invite only.
Hub Azul Manager, Fórum Oceano
Hub Azul Manager, Fórum Oceano
With a degree in Economics and an international MBA, he has worked in collaborative innovation consultancy for the Blue Economy, Sustainability, Smart Cities and Tourism. He was Director of the Bluetech Accelerator programme, focused on driving innovation in the blue economy.
Adjunct professor of finance, Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics
Adjunct professor of finance, Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics
António Baldaque da Silva is an adjunct professor at Católica Lisbon School of Economics and Business, where his work focuses on sustainable finance. He was previously a managing director at BlackRock and the founder and global head of the BlackRock Sustainability Lab. As global head of the Aladdin Sustainability Lab Mr da Silva drove the research, modelling and analytics development for sustainability, climate risk and the energy transition. Prior to this he was BlackRock’s global chief risk strategist, managing a team of 300 responsible for all financial and statistical models, analytics and tools used by BlackRock and its clients to manage their portfolios through Aladdin.
Director-general, marine policy, Portugal
Director-general, marine policy, Portugal
Marisa Lameiras da Silva is currently the General Director for Portuguese Maritime Policy. Before this she has had leading roles in shaping environmental policies, namely as Head of Strategy for the Portuguese Environmental Agency and adviser to the Portuguese Minister of the Environment and Climate Action, as well as responsible for the coordination of the national Action Plan for a Sustainable Bioeconomy.
In her previous role she was heavily involved in maritime policies as adviser to the Portuguese Minister of the Sea responsible for the Sustainable Ocean Economy and heavily involved in several subjects and projects such as offshore renewable energy, blue bioeconomy, blue Innovation and circular economy.
Her background is a degree in Chemical Engineering, a MSc in Sanitary Engineering and a MSc in Project Management. She has held multiple roles including Advisor, Environmental Consulting, Environmental Compliance Specialist, Senior Program Management (for strategic national environmental projects), among many others.
Chief executive, Canada's Ocean Supercluster
Chief executive, Canada's Ocean Supercluster
Kendra MacDonald is chief executive officer of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, responsible for driving innovation and growth in the ocean economy. With a team working across six cities in Atlantic Canada, she focuses on changing the culture of doing business in the ocean, increasing collaboration across ocean sectors and Canada’s global reach. Ms MacDonald was previously a partner in Deloitte’s risk advisory practice and the chief audit executive of Deloitte Global, and she has lived and worked in Canada, Australia and Hong Kong. She serves on the board of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and is a past chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology Industries.
Chair and general partner, Katapult Ocean
Chair and general partner, Katapult Ocean
Executive director, Global Ocean Trust
Executive director, Global Ocean Trust
Torsten Thiele is an expert in ocean governance and sustainable blue finance, with over 20 years’ experience in project, technology and infrastructure finance with financial institutions, as well as almost a decade of ocean research. He is founder of the Global Ocean Trust, a member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, and an adviser to the IUCN Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility and the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance. Mr Thiele’s areas of expertise include ocean solutions, governance and policy, marine biodiversity, the sustainable blue economy and innovative blue finance. His recent publications address climate policy, coastal infrastructure finance, nature-based solutions and innovative ocean-funding mechanisms.
Comprehensive action must be taken to achieve long-term sustainability in ports. How can ports improve their environmental performance, reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to their long-term sustainability? What are the examples of sustainable port design and construction? How are ports adapting to support other ocean-based industries in their sustainability efforts?
Chief executive, Sea Technology
Chief executive, Sea Technology
With over 25 years’ experience in international trade and entrepreneurship at organisations such as LVMH, Thérèse Lundquist spearheads a team of innovators, engineers and designers working to use climate tech and deep tech to create lasting change for a more sustainable tomorrow. Her ambition is to future-proof the blue ocean economy by providing innovative solutions for port infrastructure and a logistics revolution.
Projects directorate, air and maritime, EIB
Projects directorate, air and maritime, EIB
Jose Rino works for the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg, undertaking due-diligence procedures for worldwide sustainable maritime and logistics investments. He previously worked in Lisbon and Barcelona on the design, co-ordination and management of international transport infrastructure projects. Mr Rino also advised several international M&A operations in the transport infrastructure sector, before working in strategic planning for a cement producer in São Paulo.
Co-Chair, Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) President, Port of Tacoma Commission
Co-Chair, Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) President, Port of Tacoma Commission
Kristin Ang is a Filipino-American attorney and community advocate. She was the first person of colour elected to the Port of Tacoma commission in Washington state, with the endorsement of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. Ms Ang serves on the port’s environmental, DEI and tribal liaison committees. She is a managing member of the Northwest Seaport Alliance, and serves on the executive board of the Central Puget Sound Economic Development District and the Washington Council on International Trade. A believer in the power of community, Ms Ang is board president of the City Club of Tacoma, a Tacoma Rotary 8 member, and Greater Tacoma Community Foundation ambassador.
Head of commercial and marketing, The Port Olímpic
Head of commercial and marketing, The Port Olímpic
Roger Rocasalbas is the Business Manager of Port Olímpic, leading the commercial transformation of a new business complex dedicated to the city and the generation of activities related to nautical, blue economy, and gastronomy. Barcelona Serveis Municipals is at the forefront of this significant project commissioned by the Barcelona City Council. As an economist, Roger Rocasalbas brings experience in the management, transformation, and commercialization of spaces. He specializes in creating innovative business models and adapting value propositions. In previous roles, he played a pivotal role in developing the strategic plan for Professional Sports at Futbol Club Barcelona and leading the transition to the new Palau Blaugrana. Additionally, he successfully led the economic recovery of a historic Catalan club, Club Natació Terrassa.
Chief executive, High Ambition Climate Collective
Chief executive, High Ambition Climate Collective
Allyson Browne is co-founder and CEO of HACC. Prior to this she served as Pacific Environment’s climate campaign director, leading the organisation’s Ports for People campaign to end port and ship pollution. With more than ten years’ experience, Ms Browne is a driving force for change in climate and energy policy. She was previously director of regulatory affairs for SRECTrade, where she collaborated with industry and grassroots organisations on renewable-energy policies; worked on the energy and environment team for California Governor Gavin Newsom’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign; and was a consultant on energy in cities, cannabis and cryptocurrency.
This conversation will highlight successful examples of building economic and environmental resilience in coastal communities. Where have there been challenges and how have they been resolved? What are the lessons learned and how can they be replicated globally?
Project manager, Haida Gwaii Marine Plan, Council of the Haida Nation
Project manager, Haida Gwaii Marine Plan, Council of the Haida Nation
“How to” sessions and Innovation showcase sessions
The crucial role of the ocean in fighting the climate crisis remains underfunded. What will provide investors with the knowledge, confidence and incentives they need to back ocean-climate solutions?
Senior adviser, Ocean Stewardship Coalition, UN Global Compact
Senior adviser, Ocean Stewardship Coalition, UN Global Compact
Suzanne Ferlic Johnson is a senior advisor to the United Nations Global Compact, where she leads the blue finance initiative for the Ocean Stewardship Coalition. She is also head of Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s sustainability programme. Ms Johnson previously directed external affairs for Lloyd’s Register. She has wide experience in the energy sector, having worked for energy and water companies in government and regulatory affairs, investor relations and finance. She also has fixed-income investment experience from her time at Schroder Investment Management. Ms Johnson has served as special assistant to the former US ambassador to the United Nations.
Executive director, Blue Alliance Marine Protected Areas
Executive director, Blue Alliance Marine Protected Areas
Nicolas Pascal is an expert in finance and in marine science, with over 25 years of global experience. He is founder and executive director of Blue Alliance, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the management of marine protected areas (MPAs) to benefit people and wildlife. Blue Alliance and its local partners manage five MPAs, regenerating 1m hectares of biodiverse coral reefs, protecting more than 40 endangered species and improving the livelihoods of over 20,000 coastal community members. Mr Pascal believes in business as a force for good and in social enterprise built on sound entrepreneurial and sustainability principles to manage MPAs, conserve marine biodiversity and better the lives of local communities.
Finance practice lead, WWF International
Finance practice lead, WWF International
Aaron Vermeulen is finance practice lead for WWF-International and responsible for the organisation’s sustainable-finance strategy globally. Prior to this he was the head of green finance at WWF-NL and concurrently one of the founders of the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development. Mr Vermeulen worked for five years as WWF partnership manager at the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank in Manila. Before this he was director of the water and ecology business group at Royal HaskoningDHV consultancy in Amsterdam, and worked for the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo.
Partner and global head of ESG, Simmons & Simmons
Partner and global head of ESG, Simmons & Simmons
As global head of ESG at Simmons & Simmons, a law firm, Sonali Siriwardena is responsible for the development and execution of ESG advisory strategy across all practice areas and offices. Her experience includes over ten years at Morgan Stanley working across both legal and business functions on sustainability matters. Ms Siriwardena holds leadership roles in various ESG industry groups and contributes to policy discussions. She is a member of the ESG Advisory Committee of the UK Financial Conduct Authority, where she serves as the sole legal representative on the committee. She is also part of the City of London Law Society’s ESG Committee, and a board member of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association.
Global director of impact, Forum for the Future
Global director of impact, Forum for the Future
Martin Koehring is global director of impact at the international sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future. He leads Forum’s programmatic work (which focuses on the food and energy transitions and the purpose of business); its change-making “practice”; and overall programmatic quality and monitoring, evaluation and learning. Before joining Forum Mr Koehring was head of Economist Impact’s World Ocean Initiative and led Economist Impact’s sustainability, climate change and natural-resources practice in the EMEA region. He is a trustee of the New Economics Foundation (a think-tank focusing on social, economic and environmental justice) and sits on the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Inclusive Economies Advisory Group and the Sustainable Brands Turkey global advisory board.
How can open marine spaces be managed effectively to enable commercial activities to take place in the same space? How can coexistence be economically sound, harmonious—and ultimately beneficial to ocean health and net-zero ambitions?
Minister of sea, Cabo Verde
Minister of sea, Cabo Verde
Abraão Vicente is Cape Verde’s minister of the sea and minister of culture and creative industries. He also serves as president of the UNESCO National Commission for Cabo Verde. He is a sociologist, painter, self-taught photographer and writer with eight published literary works, and has created and presented programmes for Cape Verdean and Portuguese television. Mr Vicente is a Member of Parliament and has served as a member of the central government since 2016. As minister of the sea since 2021, he oversees the ports sector, blue economy, maritime transport and safety, fisheries, ocean and maritime research, maritime training and ocean conservation.
Founder and president, Qingdao Marine Conservation Society
Founder and president, Qingdao Marine Conservation Society
Songlin Wang has 20 years’ research and work experience promoting the conservation of China’s coastal and marine ecosystem, and sustainable seafood production and consumption. In 2017 he founded and since then has chaired Qingdao Marine Conservation Society (QMCS), a Chinese environmental NGO. QMCS orchestrates representatives from fishing communities, fellow civil-society organisations, the seafood industry, academic institutes and government to advance the sustainability of China’s fisheries and aquaculture, and to collectively identify, protect and restore the country’s critical coastal and marine habitats. QMCS also works to catalyse a nationwide responsible-seafood movement in support of China’s eco-civilisation agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Principal consultant, climate finance and the blue economy, Oxford Policy Management and former advisor to government of Fiji
Principal consultant, climate finance and the blue economy, Oxford Policy Management and former advisor to government of Fiji
Katherine Cooke is a senior technical policy and sustainability consultant at Oxford Policy Management, specialising in international climate finance, policy mitigation, adaptation and M&E. She has expertise in the international climate and ocean finance landscape, policy and the drivers of decarbonisation. Ms Cooke has worked with consultancies as well the UK government and international governments, climate and development funds, multilateral development banks and the private sector. Between 2021 and 2023 she was embedded in the Government of Fiji’s Climate Change Division as national climate finance adviser.
Founder, Ocean Geographic
Founder, Ocean Geographic
Michael Aw is the founder of Asian Geographic, Ocean Geographic and the charity OceanNEnvironment. Before becoming an ocean advocate, explorer and the principal author and photographer of 39 books about the ocean, he worked in mainstream advertising agencies for 15 years. From 2010 to 2018 Mr Aw was project director for the Elysium Epic expeditions to the Antarctic and Arctic to document the biodiversity and climate change report card of the polar regions. In 2018 he led a team for an expedition across the heart of the western Pacific’s Coral Triangle for a first-ever baseline survey of the biomass of corals and fishes in the region.
Partner, VdA, and professor, Nova School of Law
Partner, VdA, and professor, Nova School of Law
Assunção joined VdA in 2022 as Partner to head the firm’s ESG Integrated Services Platform and the Environment practice area, which encompasses ocean and agriculture related matters.
She is associate professor at Nova School of Law, coordinator of the Master’s degree in Law and Economics of the Sea — Ocean Governance (ranked 1st place globally by Eduniversal), lecturing on Ocean Policies, and director of NOVA OCEAN, a knowledge centre established in 2021 dedicated to ocean research. At the undergraduate level she lectures several courses, namely Law and Sustainability. Her areas of research interest are focused on sustainability and legislative architecture and development. At the NOVA University level, she has been leading the launching of the Ocean Studies degree, an innovative and interdisciplinary three years cycle starting in 2024 and coordinates the Ocean Challenges Eutopia Community.
From September 2009 to January 2020, Assunção held several political positions: she was Minister of Agriculture, the Sea, Environment and Land Use Planning (2011-2013) and Minister of Agriculture and the Sea (2013-2015); Member of the Portuguese Parliament (2009-2011 and 2015-2020); President of the political party CDS-PP (2016-2020) and previously Vice-President (2009-2016); and Councilwoman of the Lisbon City Council (2017-2021).
During her term of office as Minister she was responsible for the institutional reorganisation of several areas of administration, participation in the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention, negotiation of the European Common Agricultural Policy reform, and the drafting of structural national legislation, such as the framework law for maritime spatial planning and management. In this field, she led the National Sea Strategy 2013-2020 and was particularly active in the international agenda, having organised and hosted in Lisbon the “Blue Week” (2015) that joined 70 members of governments and multilateral agencies and approved a Declaration on “blue economy”.
In July 2019, Assunção published her book “Confiança. As mulheres, o poder e o país que ambicionamos para todos”, in which she reflects on various issues faced during her ten years in politics, such as the role of women in politics and issues related to the environment, agriculture and the sea.
Assunção is a former Director of the Portuguese Ministry of Justice’s Legislative Policy and Planning Office (2002-2005), where she participated in numerous legislative production processes at both the national level and in the context of international cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries. From late 2005 to early 2009, she was exclusively dedicated to academia. In addition to her teaching and research work in Private Law, she held several organisational positions.
Assunção is regularly speaker in conferences, both academic and organised by civil society, on topics related to the sea, agriculture and sustainability in general. She is engaged in several areas of the civil society, namely, she coordinates the SEDES (think tank) Ocean Observatory, is president of the prize “Floresta é sustentabilidade” awarded by Biond, and in the social side is President of the Board of Management of Cadin, a non-profitable association dedicated to the integral children development.
Assunção is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network on the oceans and sustainability.
Coastal and marine tourism has huge potential for the blue economy. How can it be combined with protecting the environment and restoring ocean health? How are local communities reaping the benefits of tourism’s increased employment and revenue while focusing on preserving natural resources?
Vice president, ESG, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
Vice president, ESG, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
Coordinating director, resources and supply department, Turismo de Portugal
Coordinating director, resources and supply department, Turismo de Portugal
Leonor Picão is co-ordinating director of offer qualification at Turismo Portugal, where she leads the REVIVE Programme, the Clean & Safe Project and the theme of Sustainability in Tourism as co-ordinator of the 2020-23 Sustainable Tourism Plan. She has been president of the Technical Committee for Standardisation in Tourism – TC 144 – Tourist Services since 2017, as part of the Portuguese Quality System. Ms Picão serves on working groups related to tourism of the National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change and the European Environment Information and Observation Network, as well as the national committee of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme.
Professor of marine science, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Professor of marine science, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Carlos M. Duarte is professor of Red Sea ecology at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, executive director of the Global Coral R&D Accelerator Platform, and chief scientist of Oceans 2050, OceanUS and E1Series. He was previously research professor with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and director of the Oceans Institute at the University of Western Australia. Prof. Duarte’s research focuses on understanding the effects of global change in marine ecosystems and developing nature-based solutions to global challenges, including climate change, and evidence-based strategies to rebuild the abundance of marine life by 2050.
Chief executive, Ocean Generation
Chief executive, Ocean Generation
Ocean Generation exists to restore a sustainable relationship between humanity and the ocean. Its award-winning documentary “A Plastic Ocean” was named by Sir David Attenborough as “one of the most important films of our time”. Richard Hill brings over 30 years of international business experience to his role as chief executive officer, having previously worked for Standard Chartered, Imperial Brands and Fontem Ventures.
Supported by Blancpain
Founder and leader, Gombessa Expeditions, Andromède Océanologie
Founder and leader, Gombessa Expeditions, Andromède Océanologie
Laurent Ballesta is a French photographer and the author of 13 books of underwater wildlife photography. The co-director of Andromède Océanologie, he has also led several large-scale expeditions over the past ten years. Mr Ballesta’s Gombessa Expeditions are based on three emblematic values: a scientific mystery, a diving challenge and the promise of never-before-seen images. From the first photographs of the coelacanth taken by a diver at a depth of 120m, to hunting the 700 sharks of Fakarava at night, to the longest and deepest dives in Antarctica, he illustrates the underwater world with a naturalistic and artistic eye.
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
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Briefings editor, The Economist
Briefings editor, The Economist
Oliver Morton is The Economist’s briefings editor. Before joining the newspaper in 2009 as energy and environment editor, he worked at Nature and Wired. Mr Morton specialises in the energy business, climate science and policy, and other green issues. As a writer on scientific, technological and planetary change, he is the author of four books: “Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination and the Birth of a World” (2002), “Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet” (2007), “The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World” (2015) and “The Moon: A History for the Future” (2019). They all deal with understanding and imagining planetary processes, especially climate change on Earth.
Small island developing states (SIDS) are key custodians of our ocean. Island countries can benefit from sustainable blue economies for their livelihood and well-being. Multi-stakeholder and cross-sectoral collaboration and an interdisciplinary approach are vital for the global ocean community to support island economies. A focus on a sustainable blue economy will encourage growth and development in fisheries, aquaculture, blue tourism and ocean-based renewable energy. Challenges remain from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, seawater warming, climate-change impacts and marine pollution.
This roundtable discussion will discuss strategies and events like the Pacific Partnerships for Prosperity, what to expect at the International Conference of Small Island Developing States and the 10th Pacific Island Leaders Meeting. The focus of the conversation will be regional co-operation and international partnerships to build holistic and efficient sustainable ocean economies in island nations. Participants will share solutions, case studies and examples to help large ocean states to be at the centre of the global ocean conversation.
Director, High Seas Alliance
Director, High Seas Alliance
Rebecca Hubbard is director of the High Seas Alliance, a global alliance of more than 50 NGOs and the IUCN, working to protect the high seas, which cover half the planet. Ms Hubbard has been campaigning for over 20 years, from the local to international level, primarily to better protect and manage the ocean.
Director, ocean, IUCN
Director, ocean, IUCN
Minna Epps is director of the IUCN ocean team, and oversees the operations and development of the programme by seeking new strategic partnerships. She is engaged in the global ocean agenda and participates in several management groups, boards and high-level networks. Ms Epps has over 20 years’ experience in international environmental work, primarily in the marine field, ranging from fieldwork in Madagascar to policy work in Geneva, including the Marine Stewardship Council, European Commission, UN Environment Programme, World Trade Organisation and conservation NGOs.
Chief scientist and board member, Oceano Azul Foundation
Chief scientist and board member, Oceano Azul Foundation
Emanuel Gonçalves is a board member and chief scientist of the Oceano Azul Foundation. He is associate professor at ISPA – Instituto Universitário in Lisbon and vice-director of MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre. He has been involved in the creation, monitoring and implementation of Marine Protected Areas in several regions, including discussions about the high seas. Mr Gonçalves was deputy head of the Portuguese Task Group for Maritime Affairs, which developed his country’s National Ocean Strategy, and coordinated the EU group leading negotiations to approve the CBD scientific criteria for identifying ecologically or biologically significant areas (EBSAs) in the marine realm.
Briefings editor, The Economist
Briefings editor, The Economist
Oliver Morton is The Economist’s briefings editor. Before joining the newspaper in 2009 as energy and environment editor, he worked at Nature and Wired. Mr Morton specialises in the energy business, climate science and policy, and other green issues. As a writer on scientific, technological and planetary change, he is the author of four books: “Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination and the Birth of a World” (2002), “Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet” (2007), “The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World” (2015) and “The Moon: A History for the Future” (2019). They all deal with understanding and imagining planetary processes, especially climate change on Earth.
Secretary-general of the Commonwealth
Secretary-general of the Commonwealth
Patricia Scotland took office as secretary-general of the Commonwealth in 2016, the first woman to hold this post. Born in Dominica, she moved to the UK at an early age. A lawyer by profession, she became the first black woman and youngest woman ever to be appointed Queen’s Counsel, and the first woman attorney-general for England and Wales. She was also appointed to the British House of Lords as Baroness Scotland of Asthal. A special emphasis of her tenure as Secretary General has been on mobilising the 56 nations of the Commonwealth to tackle climate change – including its disproportionate impact on women.
Many organisations in ocean-based industries are making the transition to more sustainable practices. What does this transition look like, and how can it be sped up? Where has a difference been made, and how can collaboration across industries, finance, policy and conservation organisations produce future change?
Founding partner and Chief investment officer, Ocean 14 Capital
Founding partner and Chief investment officer, Ocean 14 Capital
Francisco Saraiva Gomes has more than 23 years of operational and investment experience in aquaculture, having managed operations in farming, health and nutrition, equipment and engineering, and processing and marketing. During his career Mr Gomes has successfully advised or led mergers and acquisitions for more than $300m in fish-farming, feeds, ingredients and equipment
Chief technology officer and chief sustainability officer, MOWI
Chief technology officer and chief sustainability officer, MOWI
Catarina Martins is the Chief Sustainability and Technology officer at Mowi ASA (Norway). Catarina coordinates the implementation of Mowi’s sustainability strategy, Leading the Blue Revolution Plan, which includes the vision of unlocking the potential of the oceans to provide healthy and sustainable food for a growing world population. In addition, she also leads the group’s innovation activities with a team of international experts on fish health and welfare, fish quality and processing, seawater and freshwater production technology and data analytics. Catarina has a PhD in Aquaculture from Wageningen University (The Netherlands), an MBA from The Norwegian School of Economics (Norway), an MSc in Marine Biology from the University of Lisbon (Portugal) and supplementary education on Corporate Sustainability from Harvard University (USA). Before
starting at Mowi in 2013, Catarina hold several positions as senior researcher at Wageningen University, at the Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) in Portugal and at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria.
Prime minister’s special envoy for the ocean, Greece
Prime minister’s special envoy for the ocean, Greece
Dr. Avgerinopoulou is Greek Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for the Ocean and the Coordinator of Our Ocean Conference 2024. She is Member of the Hellenic Parliament with the New Democracy Party and serves as Chair of the Special Permanent Parliamentary Committee on Environmental Protection and its Subcommittee of the Watercourses of the Hellenic Parliament. She is Member of the Executive Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union from the Twelve Plus Group, while she has served as the Chairperson of the Standing Committee for the UN Affairs of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in Geneva, Switzerland. She is also Member of the Energy and Environment Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce and ICC Hellas as well as Member of ICC Women Hellas. She has previously served as the Vice-Chair for the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development, the Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee of the Global Water Partnership Organization in Stockholm, Sweden, and the Head of Water of the Commission on Environment and Energy of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, France.
Dionysia is an attorney-at-law by profession, specialized in international law, with a particular expertise on the law of international organizations. She holds an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. and holds a Doctorate in International Environmental Law (J.S.D.) from Columbia University School of Law in New York, N.Y. She teaches International Public Law, International Environmental Law, Climate Change Law and Sustainable Finance Law.
She has been presented with several international environmental and humanitarian awards.
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
Ocean exploration will change the way we explore and relate to the ocean. Ocean exploration fosters collaboration for researchers, academics, government agencies, and corporations to advance ocean science. This session will highlight how storytelling, technology and public-private partnerships will provide a transformative setting to enable significant advancements in climate solutions, renewable energy, future medicines and cures, and sustainable food sources.
Aquanaut, oceanographic explorer, environmental advocate, founder, Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center and Proteus Ocean Group
Aquanaut, oceanographic explorer, environmental advocate, founder, Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center and Proteus Ocean Group
Fabien Cousteau’s first experience with scuba was at the age of 4, and since then his life has been immersed in ocean exploration and conservation. In 2014 Mr Cousteau led a team of aquanauts on Mission 31, the longest science expedition at Aquarius, the only remaining underwater marine laboratory. This inspired him to found Proteus Ocean Group with a vision to build a new state-of-the-art modular habitat to facilitate ground-breaking marine research and exploration. PROTEUS is slated for deployment off the coast of Curaçao. Mr Cousteau founded the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Centre (FCOLC) to drive positive environmental change in the marine world.
Supported by The Nippon Foundation and Back to Blue Initiative
After two years of virtual events and two years in Lisbon, this conversation will look at what is coming next for the World Ocean Summit. Where will discussions take us in 2025?
Chairman, The Nippon Foundation
Chairman, The Nippon Foundation
Yohei Sasakawa is chairman of the Nippon Foundation, a private, non-profit foundation established in 1962 to carry out philanthropic activities, using revenue from motorboat racing. Mr Sasakawa joined the Nippon Foundation in 1981 after 20 years in the business sector. Known for his entrepreneurial spirit, he is an expert at bringing together entities from the political, governmental, academic and private sectors to tackle diverse issues including public health, education, food security and ocean health. Passing on a sustainable ocean for future generations is a mission to which he has remained committed for more than three decades.
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
Innovation showcase sessions
Executive director, Fisheries Transparency Initiative
Executive director, Fisheries Transparency Initiative
Sven Biermann is executive director of the international secretariat of the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), a global multi-stakeholder partnership which strengthens transparency and collective action for more sustainable management of marine fisheries. Throughout his more than 25 years of professional experience he has focused on practical and sustainable solutions for good governance, multi-stakeholder partnerships, corporate social responsibility, risk management and business integrity. In 2012-13 Mr Biermann served as senior adviser to the United Nations Global Compact 10th principle (anti-corruption). He is also co-founder of the non-profit Berlin Governance Platform.
Sponsored by Lonely Whale
Seaweed remains a great untapped resource. From providing nutritious food for humans and animals to acting as a substitute for hydrocarbon-based plastics, to sequestering carbon and restoring oceanic biodiversity, seaweed has myriad uses as well as the potential to address many of the UN’s sustainable development goals.
This session will explore how to create a sustainable pathway for scaling the seaweed industry to realise these diverse benefits. Speakers and participants will address how to approach the complex challenges and ethical considerations inherent in cultivating and engineering our ocean on a global scale. They will consider how to overcome cultivation complications exacerbated by climate change, and how to operate without policies to empower and extend access to seaweed farmers. The session will focus on how to foster collaboration within the broader value chain including farmers, indigenous communities, scientists, entrepreneurs, investors and policy makers, to overcome these complex issues. Attendees will leave with a deep understanding of seaweed’s potential, insights into its multifaceted capabilities, and how to play a part in the industry’s success.
How to sessions are for small, focused groups of subject-matter experts, will run parallel to the main agenda and during the networking breaks. Participation in these sessions are by invite only.
UN secretary-general’s special envoy for the ocean
UN secretary-general’s special envoy for the ocean
Peter Thomson was Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2010 to 2016, and served as president of the UN General Assembly in 2016-17. In 2014 he was president of the executive board of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Office of Project Services. Ambassador Thomson was previously president of the Assembly and Council of the International Seabed Authority. In 2017 he became the first United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, in which role he drives implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda’s goal to conserve and sustainably use the resources of the ocean.
Founder, Zerocircle
Founder, Zerocircle
Founder and director, Cascadia Seaweed
Founder and director, Cascadia Seaweed
Bill Collins trained as a geologist, and since moving to the Victoria area in British Columbia, Canada, in 1994 he has been responsible for bringing a locally invented sonar system to the world stage, including sales to more than 20 navies and government institutions. As part of the ownership group of an award-winning high-tech company, Mr Collins has filled many corporate roles including M&A activities. He has a passion for creating and executing sound business plans and a strong belief in Vancouver Island as a business growth opportunity.
Policy, director, Urban Ocean Lab
Policy, director, Urban Ocean Lab
Alexandra Carter is the Policy Director at Urban Ocean Lab and leads the organization’s efforts on expanding regenerative ocean farming, developing just and responsible offshore renewable energy, improving the climate readiness of coastal cities and working waterfronts, and protecting coastal ecosystems. Alexandra has a decade of experience producing national ocean and climate solutions in the United States.
Previously Alexandra served as a congressional staffer for Senator Jeff Merkley, advocated for environmentally responsible offshore wind with the American Clean Power Association, and has published a varied body of work on ocean climate action with the Center for American Progress. In addition to policy work, Alexandra has scientific field experience including a season as a certified National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries observer in the Bering Sea and Alaska. Alexandra holds a bachelor’s degree in marine biology and environmental science and policy from California State University Long Beach.
Programme director, Seaweed for Europe
Programme director, Seaweed for Europe
Adrien Vincent founded Albatros Advisory, an advisory boutique specialised in the ocean sustainability space, in 2023. He advises the European Commission as part of the management team of the EU4Algae programme, and is a senior advisor to the Global Seaweed Coalition, hosted by the UN Global Compact. Mr Vincent works with the French national research centre CNRS on its International Panel for Ocean Sustainability, and advises ocean investment funds and startups on their impact journey towards a healthy ocean. He previously worked for McKinsey and Company and for Systemiq.
Sponsored by Anthropocene Institute (Protected Seas)
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework set out a series of targets to be achieved by 2030 and beyond to reverse nature loss and safeguard biodiversity. The 30×30 target calls for 30% of terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas to be protected through effective measures by 2030. In this session speakers and participants will discuss how to assess and improve the effectiveness of MPAs, to ensure they achieve their potential impact. They will consider how MPA managers and scientists can use data to guide regulatory management to reduce the impact of human activity on ocean health. There will be a focus on how to use real-time and historical information to support monitoring, analysis and decision-making in small and large MPAs around the world. The working group will identify how to increase transparency in MPA management, and assess the economic and environmental impact of MPAs in the context of an effective 30×30.
How to sessions are for small, focused groups of subject-matter experts, will run parallel to the main agenda and during the networking breaks. Participation in these sessions are by invite only.
Marine monitor product manager, ProtectedSeas
Marine monitor product manager, ProtectedSeas
Regional Coordinator, Pronatura Noroeste
Regional Coordinator, Pronatura Noroeste
Sergio Gonzalez Carrillo is a marine biologist who has long been attracted to the area of natural-resource management and conservation. He has worked in academia, as well as in the Mexican federal government within natural protected areas, and in civil-society organisations. Mr Gonzalez has more than 15 years’ experience establishing collaboration agreements among community members, different levels of government, federal government authorities, civil-society organisations, researchers, businessmen, developers and tourism-service providers. He handles topics related to surveillance, governance in protected areas, sustainable fisheries and management, establishment of financing mechanisms and fundraising. He has also worked on the innovation of surveillance via technology in marine protected areas in Mexico.
Biodiversity lead, Latin America, Global Fishing Watch
Biodiversity lead, Latin America, Global Fishing Watch
Carlos Chacon leads Global Fishing Watch’s efforts to conserve and protect biodiversity and improve the management of marine protected areas in the Latin American region. Leveraging the organisation’s cutting-edge data and analysis tools, he works closely with governments and local partners to enhance their ocean stewardship capacities. Before joining Global Fishing Watch Mr Chacon helped further the marine conservation goals at PACIFICO Foundation, a non-profit organisation mobilising financial support for the sustainable management of the Eastern Tropical Pacific. He also spent several years at The Nature Conservancy developing tools, policies and incentives to increase private-lands conservation throughout Latin America.
Chief operating officer, WildAid
Chief operating officer, WildAid
Meaghan has worked for nearly 15 years to reduce illegal fishing activity around the world, and is an expert in domestic and international fisheries management, compliance, and enforcement. She spent four years at-sea enforcing fisheries law, and served as the deputy chief of the Coast Guard’s Living Marine Resources Enforcement program. Meaghan was also the lead manager of the Pew Charitable Trusts’ End Illegal Fishing Campaign. Additionally, she founded Exulans, Inc., a global consultancy providing compliance and enforcement solutions for ocean conservation to governments, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations. In these roles, Meaghan has worked in collaboration with senior government leaders and diverse public and private sector organizations in East Africa, Southeast Asia, the Western and Central Pacific, Central America and the United States. Meaghan continues to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, leading a department in the San Francisco Bay area.
Founder, Fish 2.0 Ventures
Founder, Fish 2.0 Ventures
Monica Jain, founder and executive director of Fish 2.0 and Manta Consulting, is dedicated to growing networks that bring together her passions for fisheries and the oceans, finance and impact investment. She launched Fish 2.0 in 2013 to create a network of entrepreneurs and investors who could grow the sustainable seafood sector. Since then she has worked with over 400 entrepreneurs, 300 investors and 40 sponsors. Ms Jain’s career over the past 30 years has encompassed marine biology, philanthropy, venture capital, banking and international development. Alongside Fish 2.0 she works as a strategic advisor and consultant to foundations, investors and corporations.
Managing partner, Ode
Managing partner, Ode
Dan Hammer is a managing partner at Ode, a tech and design agency for the environment. He was the winner of the inaugural Pritzker Environmental Genius Award; a member of the Brain Trust at XPRIZE; and a senior technical advisor at Earth Alliance. Mr Hammer previously served as a senior policy advisor in the Obama White House and a presidential innovation fellow at NASA. He was also chief data scientist at the World Resources Institute, where he co-founded Global Forest Watch. He has been a National Geographic fellow and a lead mathematics instructor at San Quentin State Prison with the Prison University Project.
Chief executive, Ocean Generation
Chief executive, Ocean Generation
Ocean Generation exists to restore a sustainable relationship between humanity and the ocean. Its award-winning documentary “A Plastic Ocean” was named by Sir David Attenborough as “one of the most important films of our time”. Richard Hill brings over 30 years of international business experience to his role as chief executive officer, having previously worked for Standard Chartered, Imperial Brands and Fontem Ventures.
Program manager, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority
Program manager, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority
Manager, Whales and Climate Research Program
Manager, Whales and Climate Research Program
Jan-Olaf Meynecke studied environmental and marine sciences in Germany and Australia, and developed advanced short- and long-term tagging methods in marine environments. He manages and leads the Whales and Climate Programme, an international research initiative on the impacts of climate change on whales. As CEO and co-founder of Humpbacks & High-Rises, a non-profit research organisation dedicated to urban marine-mammal research and protection, Mr Meynecke spends his spare time studying the health of humpback whales in south-east Queensland and leading marine expeditions.
Offshore-wind projects have been successfully established around the world. The technology is already commercially available, including wind turbines anchored to the seabed and floating wind infrastructure. Offshore wind could contribute to meeting future energy demands. What must be done to ensure it fulfils its potential? What role will marine-renewable energy play in grid electrification and energy security?
Partner and chief financial officer, Glennmont Partners
Partner and chief financial officer, Glennmont Partners
Francesco joined Glennmont Partners in 2009 and is responsible for the fund’s investment, fund raising and financial performance. He has more than 16 years’ experience in the energy sector, 13 of which spent in renewable energy.
Before joining the team, Francesco spent three years at Oxara Energy Group (part of the Fleming Family and Partners group), one of Europe’s first private equity funds to specialise in renewable energy. During his career he successfully led the origination and execution of several investments in wind, solar, biomass and gas-fired plants across Europe. He is also responsible for developing these projects into operating assets, managing the fund accounts and investors.
Francesco holds a B.A. in Finance and Accounting from Bocconi University (Italy), a Masters in Finance from London Business School and is a CIMA-qualified management accountant (ACMA). In addition, he is a charterholder of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®).
Ambassador for the ocean, ministry of foreign affairs, Sweden
Ambassador for the ocean, ministry of foreign affairs, Sweden
Anna Lindstedt is Swedish ambassador for the ocean. A former journalist, she joined the Foreign Service in 1990. Ms Lindstedt has served as Sweden’s ambassador to Vietnam, Mexico, China and Mongolia. She was her country’s ambassador for climate change in 2011-16 and was instrumental in shaping the Paris agreement.
Director Global Public Affairs Offshore Wind & Internal Lead Global Offshore Wind Alliance - Global Wind Energy Council
Director Global Public Affairs Offshore Wind & Internal Lead Global Offshore Wind Alliance - Global Wind Energy Council
Amisha Patel joined GWEC in April 2023 on secondment from member company Mainstream Renewable Power, where she is group global head of public affairs and policy. At GWEC she leads the growth and advance workstreams for the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA), which was co-founded by the government of Denmark, IRENA and GWEC and launched at COP27. Before joining Mainstream Ms Patel led public affairs, stakeholder engagement and communications for Principle Power, a company working on floating offshore wind technology. She has worked in the energy and marine-renewables space for over 15 years, including at the Energy Industries Council.
Partner, SRS Legal
Partner, SRS Legal
Partner at SRS Legal in the Projects Area, covering all practice areas and sectors. Carlos has diversified professional experience between law practice, public and private management and academic activity, mainly focused on the financial, capital market, regulatory and energy sectors, having accompanied various national and international operations of corporate restructuring and M&A, as well as ESG, audit, risk and compliance projects. With nearly 30 years of professional experience, and several published works, he was also Secretary of State for Treasury and Finance and Director of the CMVM and several private companies, the last one being Galp Energia, subsidiary companies and participated associations, such as European Petroleum Industry Association (FuelsEurope), in which he served as Board Member.
Chief executive, OWC, ABL Group
Chief executive, OWC, ABL Group
William Cleverly has worked in the offshore-wind industry since 2008. His expertise spans early-stage development to installation, with a particular focus on floating wind. Mr Cleverly has worked across Europe, Asia and the Americas in key roles in over 50GW of offshore-wind projects.
The blue-food industry provides employment and livelihoods, and contributes to building coastal resilience. Over 3bn people globally rely on blue foods for nearly 20% of their animal protein. This session will discuss how blue-food businesses can develop more sustainable practices and increase their contribution to healthy, equitable and sustainable food systems.
Founder and managing director, Bayrise Fish Farm
Founder and managing director, Bayrise Fish Farm
Alfred Achar is founder and managing director of Bayrise Fish Farm, a vertically integrated commercial tilapia farm on Lake Victoria in Kenya. He is also founder of SasAqua, a climate-smart digital platform offering fish farmers and other aquaculture value-chain players solutions in climate-smart aquaculture, climate change mitigation and a seamless, commerce-enabled, sustainable value-chain marketplace. Mr Achar is a sustainability advocate, committed to building successful businesses with environmental and social responsibilities in mind. A trained engineer by profession, his latest projects include an aquaculture smallholder farmers outgrower project in Kenya.
Chief technology officer and chief sustainability officer, MOWI
Chief technology officer and chief sustainability officer, MOWI
Catarina Martins is the Chief Sustainability and Technology officer at Mowi ASA (Norway). Catarina coordinates the implementation of Mowi’s sustainability strategy, Leading the Blue Revolution Plan, which includes the vision of unlocking the potential of the oceans to provide healthy and sustainable food for a growing world population. In addition, she also leads the group’s innovation activities with a team of international experts on fish health and welfare, fish quality and processing, seawater and freshwater production technology and data analytics. Catarina has a PhD in Aquaculture from Wageningen University (The Netherlands), an MBA from The Norwegian School of Economics (Norway), an MSc in Marine Biology from the University of Lisbon (Portugal) and supplementary education on Corporate Sustainability from Harvard University (USA). Before
starting at Mowi in 2013, Catarina hold several positions as senior researcher at Wageningen University, at the Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) in Portugal and at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria.
Chief sustainability officer, American Seafoods
Chief sustainability officer, American Seafoods
Tim Fitzgerald works to help American Seafoods achieve best-in-class environmental performance in all areas of business. He leads initiatives on carbon accounting and decarbonisation, optimisation of packaging and operational waste, technology innovation, sustainable finance and ESG reporting. Mr Fitzgerald previously worked for the Environmental Defence Fund for nearly 20 years, where he led work with investors, multilaterals and the seafood industry to improve the sustainability of global fisheries and aquaculture. He is an impatient ocean optimist at heart who cares deeply about climate change and food security.
Global director of impact, Forum for the Future
Global director of impact, Forum for the Future
Martin Koehring is global director of impact at the international sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future. He leads Forum’s programmatic work (which focuses on the food and energy transitions and the purpose of business); its change-making “practice”; and overall programmatic quality and monitoring, evaluation and learning. Before joining Forum Mr Koehring was head of Economist Impact’s World Ocean Initiative and led Economist Impact’s sustainability, climate change and natural-resources practice in the EMEA region. He is a trustee of the New Economics Foundation (a think-tank focusing on social, economic and environmental justice) and sits on the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Inclusive Economies Advisory Group and the Sustainable Brands Turkey global advisory board.
Supported by The Nippon Foundation and Back to Blue Initiative
A zero-pollution ocean will only be possible if policymakers, business leaders and investors can access sufficient evidence to evaluate the scope, scale and impact of marine pollution. Back to Blue, an initiative of Economist Impact and the Nippon Foundation, is catalysing a co-ordinated global effort to close the marine pollution data gap. The Back to Blue initiative will launch the draft road map at this year’s summit.
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
Supported by The Nippon Foundation and Back to Blue Initiative
Evidence about the extent and impact of pollution in the ocean is fragmented, and effort will be required to create common frameworks, institutions and infrastructure to close the gap. Back to Blue, in collaboration with ocean stakeholders, has created a draft road map outlining the next steps. This session will discuss challenges to implementing the road map.
Head of oceans science section, IOC UNESCO
Head of oceans science section, IOC UNESCO
Henrik Enevoldsen a.i. Head of the Ocean Science Section at the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. He is also Head of the IOC Science and Communication Centre on Harmful Algae which is hosted by the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He has a background in aquatic ecology and has for more than 30 years worked with development and implementation of international research and capacity building on harmful algae, nutrient pollution and associated topics. He coordinates several international scientific working groups and regional networks in marine science. He is actively involved in the UN Decade for Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030.
UN secretary-general’s special envoy for the ocean
UN secretary-general’s special envoy for the ocean
Peter Thomson was Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2010 to 2016, and served as president of the UN General Assembly in 2016-17. In 2014 he was president of the executive board of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Office of Project Services. Ambassador Thomson was previously president of the Assembly and Council of the International Seabed Authority. In 2017 he became the first United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, in which role he drives implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda’s goal to conserve and sustainably use the resources of the ocean.
Chief executive, Hub Ocean
Chief executive, Hub Ocean
Kimberly Mathisen is a CEO and board member who loves the challenge of helping organizations find new sources of energy and growth and more innovative and sustainable business models.
In January 2022, Kimberly became the CEO of HUB Ocean, a non-profit foundation aimed at becoming the world’s ocean data collaboration hub. Their goal is to change the fate of the ocean by unleashing the power of data, technology, and collaboration.
She has more than 25 years of experience in the private sector in Digitalization and Technology, Branded Consumer Goods, and Pharmaceuticals in North America, Europe and Asia, most recently leading a period of enormous growth and transformation as the General Manager of Microsoft Norway.
She serves on the Supervisory Board of Bayer AG and the Board of Directors of Aker Biomarine, Aker Horizons and Aize. She has been named as one of Norway’s most influential leaders by Kapital and one of Norway’s top female executives in technology by Abelia and Oda Network.
Director, Marine Policy Center and senior advisor to the president on ocean and climate policy, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Director, Marine Policy Center and senior advisor to the president on ocean and climate policy, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Kilaparti Ramakrishna joined the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in October 2021 as senior advisor to the president and director on ocean and climate policy. Prior to this he worked with the United Nations as head of strategic planning at the Green Climate Fund; head of the Office for East and North-East Asia at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific; and as chief of cross-sectoral environmental issues and principal policy advisor at the UN Environment Programme. Mr Ramakrishna was also a lead author of the fifth assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies has been adopted, and ratification by member states is in progress. What are the next steps, and how are states preparing to implement the agreement to support the national and international fishing industry?
Deputy director-general, World Trade Organisation
Deputy director-general, World Trade Organisation
Angela Ellard has been deputy director-general of the World Trade Organisation since 2021. Prior to her appointment she served in the US Congress as majority and minority chief trade counsel for more than 26 years. She is an expert on trade and international economic policy, resolving trade and investment barriers, negotiating trade agreements and supporting multilateral solutions. Ms Ellard has negotiated and delivered significant bipartisan trade-policy outcomes and legislation with members of the US Congress and senior Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush and Clinton administration officials. Ms Ellard was also a lawyer in the private sector, specialising in trade litigation and strategy, trade policy and legislative issues.
Chair, fisheries subsidies negotiations and ambassador of Iceland, WTO
Chair, fisheries subsidies negotiations and ambassador of Iceland, WTO
With the momentum for ocean-based policy frameworks evident at COP28, what are the necessary steps to actualise ocean renewable energy solutions effectively? How can the deployment of ocean renewable energy be accelerated to meet the 1.5°C climate goal while protecting marine biodiversity? Can finance flows help achieve the twin goals of energy transition and marine conservation?
Associate director, International climate and clean energy, Ocean Conservancy
Associate director, International climate and clean energy, Ocean Conservancy
Shamini Selvaratnam is associate director of international climate policy at the Ocean Conservancy. With expertise in renewable energy, climate policy and multilateral engagement, she spent the better part of the last decade persuading high-level officials, stakeholders and private-sector partners to collaborate on global solutions to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy and the low-carbon transition. Prior to her current role Ms Selvaratnam was energy-partnerships lead for the UN Development Programme’s Sustainable Energy Hub. She has also held consulting assignments at the World Bank, where she now a senior consultant for the Sustainable Renewables Risk Mitigation Initiative.
Innovation showcase sessions
Sponsored by European Investment Bank
Overfishing, climate change and pollution continue to damage the fishing sector, and harm coastal communities and livelihoods. Many measures are in place to combat the challenges, including marine protected areas, seafood-traceability initiatives, fishing-improvement projects and the development of sustainable equipment. All these measures require collaboration and investment.
Financing fishery operations is not straightforward for some sustainability-focused large financing institutions because fisheries are often small-scale, and the sector is facing sustainability issues.
This session will bring together stakeholders including fishery leaders, technology developers, grant providers, investors, regulators and specialist NGOs. They will discuss how to collaborate to identify financing options that could help large sustainability-focused financing institutions to support fisheries to become more sustainable.
Roundtable discussions are by invite only. Please email your interest to [email protected]
Lead strategist, Ocean Frontier Institute
Lead strategist, Ocean Frontier Institute
Despite being raised in the land-locked city of New Delhi, Akash Rastogi dreamed of the high seas from childhood. After 20 years in the financial-services industry—including as partner and Canadian head of the financial-services advisory practice at a Fortune 200 consulting firm, and working in institutional derivatives trading—Mr Rastogi pivoted to the ocean industry. He is currently a lead strategist at Canada’s Ocean Frontier Institute, working to advance its innovation and commercialisation mandate. He is one of the co-founders of the Reykjavik protocol, a mentor to numerous ocean-based CDR startups and a board member of Humber Bay Sailing Centre.
This experiential innovation session will bring together a limited number of participants to discuss selected ocean problems and rapidly generate ideas for novel technology solutions to such problems. The attendees will be able to bring to the table specific ocean issues that they are currently addressing in their organisations and/or experiencing in their communities. They will form teams that will develop new technology solutions through the “lean startup” methodology and other entrepreneurial best practices used in the startup world and increasingly popular in large corporations, academia, government and civil society. The participants will leave with a new perspective on the ocean problems tackled during this session, and with ideas for novel technology products, initiatives and startups that they could further develop beyond the session. Last but not least, the attendees will leave with a new innovation mindset and a toolkit that they can use to tackle any ocean-related challenges.
Limited availability: register your interest with [email protected].
Founder, Najha Fashion
Founder, Najha Fashion
Daniela de Sá comes from a family of shoemakers going back to her grandparents. Connected with fashion since childhood, she studied management and marketing in Portugal and design and fashion in Italy. While working in the family business for luxury brands she realised how much the fashion industry is polluting the world, and decided to create her own sustainable and vegan fashion brand, which is part of the Excellence Brands Association. Ms de Sá has become a designer and advisor for brands with a focus on sustainability, and is now developing her own collection and working with private-label brands on design and sustainable practices in materials and production.
There remains a stark gap between men and women’s participation in the blue economy. This is both in terms of numbers and the type of work. Working towards an inclusive and diverse workforce in the blue economy will create more equity, enhance efficiencies and contribute to large-scale impacts. Building ocean-literacy programmes, holistic and inclusive policies at a national and international level and skills development will increase involvement from women and local communities in fostering a healthy ocean. This session will address how to close the gender gap and assess the various ways of doing this, including education, community projects, raising awareness of the employment opportunities in the blue economy, policy and funding. Speakers and participants will focus on how to involve stakeholders from policy, education, the private sector and NGOs to achieve inclusion in the blue workforce.
How to sessions are for small, focused groups of subject-matter experts, will run parallel to the main agenda and during the networking breaks. Participation in these sessions are by invite only.
Advisor on Climate and Marine Policy Former EU Commissioner for Marine, Leading Women for the Ocean (LWO) /CLIMARE solutions
Advisor on Climate and Marine Policy Former EU Commissioner for Marine, Leading Women for the Ocean (LWO) /CLIMARE solutions
Acting as an independent consultant in global organisations, Maria Damanaki is an advisor for Oceans5 and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, and a member of the Friends of Ocean Action of the World Economic Forum. She co-chairs the network of the High-Level Ocean Panel and sits on the boards of the Monaco Ocean Foundation and Oceanographic Institute, the European Marine Regions Forum, Global Fishing Watch, the Marine Stewardship Council, the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, and Beneath the Waves. Ms Damanaki was previously global managing director for oceans at The Nature Conservancy USA, and the European Union commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries.
Founder of YOUTH LEADER FUND under China biodiversity coservation and green development foundation
Founder of YOUTH LEADER FUND under China biodiversity coservation and green development foundation
Huan Zheng (Joy) is founder and executive director of the Youth Leader Fund operating under the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation. She is also deputy secretary-general of G20 Young Entrepreneur Alliance China Council, a global network of young entrepreneurs and supporting organisations. The council convenes each year in advance of the G20 summit to champion the importance of young entrepreneurs to the G20 member nations. Ms Huan also serves as director of the International Centre of Sustainability, which brings together young entrepreneurs and technology innovators from 20 countries to introduce cutting-edge industrial information and help organisations develop commercial solutions for environmental requirements.
Partner, VdA, and professor, Nova School of Law
Partner, VdA, and professor, Nova School of Law
Assunção joined VdA in 2022 as Partner to head the firm’s ESG Integrated Services Platform and the Environment practice area, which encompasses ocean and agriculture related matters.
She is associate professor at Nova School of Law, coordinator of the Master’s degree in Law and Economics of the Sea — Ocean Governance (ranked 1st place globally by Eduniversal), lecturing on Ocean Policies, and director of NOVA OCEAN, a knowledge centre established in 2021 dedicated to ocean research. At the undergraduate level she lectures several courses, namely Law and Sustainability. Her areas of research interest are focused on sustainability and legislative architecture and development. At the NOVA University level, she has been leading the launching of the Ocean Studies degree, an innovative and interdisciplinary three years cycle starting in 2024 and coordinates the Ocean Challenges Eutopia Community.
From September 2009 to January 2020, Assunção held several political positions: she was Minister of Agriculture, the Sea, Environment and Land Use Planning (2011-2013) and Minister of Agriculture and the Sea (2013-2015); Member of the Portuguese Parliament (2009-2011 and 2015-2020); President of the political party CDS-PP (2016-2020) and previously Vice-President (2009-2016); and Councilwoman of the Lisbon City Council (2017-2021).
During her term of office as Minister she was responsible for the institutional reorganisation of several areas of administration, participation in the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention, negotiation of the European Common Agricultural Policy reform, and the drafting of structural national legislation, such as the framework law for maritime spatial planning and management. In this field, she led the National Sea Strategy 2013-2020 and was particularly active in the international agenda, having organised and hosted in Lisbon the “Blue Week” (2015) that joined 70 members of governments and multilateral agencies and approved a Declaration on “blue economy”.
In July 2019, Assunção published her book “Confiança. As mulheres, o poder e o país que ambicionamos para todos”, in which she reflects on various issues faced during her ten years in politics, such as the role of women in politics and issues related to the environment, agriculture and the sea.
Assunção is a former Director of the Portuguese Ministry of Justice’s Legislative Policy and Planning Office (2002-2005), where she participated in numerous legislative production processes at both the national level and in the context of international cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries. From late 2005 to early 2009, she was exclusively dedicated to academia. In addition to her teaching and research work in Private Law, she held several organisational positions.
Assunção is regularly speaker in conferences, both academic and organised by civil society, on topics related to the sea, agriculture and sustainability in general. She is engaged in several areas of the civil society, namely, she coordinates the SEDES (think tank) Ocean Observatory, is president of the prize “Floresta é sustentabilidade” awarded by Biond, and in the social side is President of the Board of Management of Cadin, a non-profitable association dedicated to the integral children development.
Assunção is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network on the oceans and sustainability.
Executive director and co-founder, Global Choices
Executive director and co-founder, Global Choices
Head of business development, World Ocean Initiative, Economist Impact
Head of business development, World Ocean Initiative, Economist Impact
Tatiana Der Avedissian is head of business development for Economist Impact’s World Ocean Initiative and sits on The Economist Group’s sustainability steering committee. Outside of work she advises other organisations with their strategic communication and business needs, including Alkionides UK, where she is co-president, and the Armenian Institute, where she is chair of the board of trustees. Ms Der Avedissian is co-founder of The Armenia Project, co-president of the Harvard Kennedy School Women’s Network and board member of the UK-Cyprus Enterprise Council. She was recently appointed adviser and climate-justice co-ordinator for the 2024 meeting of the W7, a women’s rights and gender equality engagement group within the G7, in Italy.
Vice president, business development, Seabased Group
Vice president, business development, Seabased Group
Co-founder AMPHITRITE
Co-founder AMPHITRITE
Chief executive and founder, Sea and Believe
Chief executive and founder, Sea and Believe
Small island nations are on the front line of climate-change challenges. How could an increase in scientific capacity, new policy measures and greater investment support restoration and development efforts?
Principal secretary, Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Principal secretary, Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Aboud S. Jumbe is principal secretary at the Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries, Zanzibar, in Tanzania. He has been involved in dialogue and development processes in the implementation of ocean governance, blue economy and marine spatial planning processes, focusing on the Western Indian Ocean and the United Nations Environment Programme’s Nairobi Convention Area. Under the UNEP Nairobi Convention, Mr Jumbe has participated in initiatives of the Marine Regions Forums and the aspirations to develop an ocean-governance strategy across regional seas programmes, creating an effective and multilateral partnership for a future management of areas beyond national jurisdiction, especially in the Western Indian Ocean region.
Lead negotiator, oceans, Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
Lead negotiator, oceans, Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
Anama Solofa serves as lead negotiator on ocean issues for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), currently chaired by Samoa. AOSIS is an intergovernmental organisation of small island developing states and low-lying coastal developing states. Ms Solofa has worked on a range of ocean issues during her career, including for the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, and the Oceania Regional Office of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. She began her career in Samoa working for the Samoa Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Permanent representative of Palau to the UN
Permanent representative of Palau to the UN
Deputy premier and minister for home affairs, Bermuda
Deputy premier and minister for home affairs, Bermuda
Senior research fellow, Ocean Policy Research Institute, The Sasakawa Peace Foundation
Senior research fellow, Ocean Policy Research Institute, The Sasakawa Peace Foundation
Masanori Kobayashi is senior research fellow at the Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo. He works on ocean and sustainability policies including sustainable blue economies, sustainable fisheries and marine resource management. Mr Kobayashi has worked for the Ocean Policy Research Foundation, Yokohama National University, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, the United Nations (in New York, Geneva and Bonn) and at Japan’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
Briefings editor, The Economist
Briefings editor, The Economist
Oliver Morton is The Economist’s briefings editor. Before joining the newspaper in 2009 as energy and environment editor, he worked at Nature and Wired. Mr Morton specialises in the energy business, climate science and policy, and other green issues. As a writer on scientific, technological and planetary change, he is the author of four books: “Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination and the Birth of a World” (2002), “Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet” (2007), “The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World” (2015) and “The Moon: A History for the Future” (2019). They all deal with understanding and imagining planetary processes, especially climate change on Earth.
New solutions for disease prevention and nutrition are contributing to better fish health, and to sustainability in aquaculture farms. Innovation in genetics has the potential to transform the aquaculture industry and make a big impact on the environment. Where do challenges remain and how are innovations helping to overcome them?
Partner and chief operating officer, Ocean Assets
Partner and chief operating officer, Ocean Assets
Chief executive, SyAqua
Chief executive, SyAqua
Fred Kao is CEO of SyAqua Group, which works in shrimp genetics and hatchery feed. With over 23 years’ experience in the agriculture industry, he has worked at major poultry genetic companies such as Aviagen and Cobb, contributing to operational management, technical services and business development. Mr Kao’s expertise lies in process flow, delivering genetic products, and after-sales support. He joined Sy Aqua SyAqua as co-CEO in 2022 and assumed the role of group CEO in May 2023.
Director, Aquatic Animal Alliance, The Aquatic Life Institute
Director, Aquatic Animal Alliance, The Aquatic Life Institute
Catalina Lopez Salazar is director of the Aquatic Animal Alliance at the Aquatic Life Institute. She leads a global coalition of non-profit organizations working to improve the lives of aquatic animals used for food, through science-based advocacy in collaboration with corporations, governments and international institutions. Ms Lopez is a veterinarian from Colombia, and she has worked in the farmed animal protection movement for more than three years. She previously led work with corporations to end the use of cages in the egg industry in Latin America.
President, BlueBio Alliance
President, BlueBio Alliance
João Rito is passionate about impact entrepreneurship and he is a founding partner and manager of SEAentia. He is currently the President of BlueBio Alliance, the Portuguese association for marine bioresources. He has been also involved in activities within the European Aquaculture Society (EAS) having been the President of the EAS Students Group. He lectures classes about Physiology, Nutrition and Feeding in aquaculture at the Polytechnic of Leiria. João believes in the blue economy and specifically in aquaculture as a tool to solve part of the socio-economical and environmental problems in the world, if well managed and well implemented.
Head of Oceans Programme, Planet Tracker
Head of Oceans Programme, Planet Tracker
François brings more than 10 years of experience working across finance, nature conservation and sustainable farming. Prior to joining Planet Tracker, he was a financial analyst at Exane BNP Paribas and Capital Group, and a conservation finance specialist at Conservation Capital.
Investment hub
The investment hub will feature panels of investors in innovation for the restoration of ocean health. Sessions will address investment challenges including:
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Partner and chief scientist, Propeller
Partner and chief scientist, Propeller
Julie Pullen is an oceanographer and meteorologist working on climate resilience and climate solutions. Her expertise spans climate, weather and water, with a focus on Earth-system modelling and observing. An ocean climate-tech investor with Propeller Ventures, Ms Pullen was previously climate strategist at Jupiter Intelligence, an early climate-risk analytics startup. Prior to that she taught ocean engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey and was a Fulbright visiting professor in the Philippines. Ms Pullen serves on the US government’s National Climate Security Roundtable and the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) advisory committee for the Sustainability and Climate Risk programme.
Co-founder and executive director, SeaAhead
Co-founder and executive director, SeaAhead
Alissa Peterson co-founded and leads SeaAhead, a venture platform for startups with technologies that enhance ocean health or sustainable ocean industries. From offshore renewable energy to sustainable seafood and a decarbonised maritime industry, cutting-edge ventures in the blue economy come to SeaAhead for investment, resources and community. Prior to SeaAhead Ms Peterson held leadership roles at two venture-backed startups: NanoSteel, an advanced-materials company creating solutions for vehicle lightweighting and 3D printing, and Primus Power, a grid-scale energy storage company. Before this she was a consultant in McKinsey’s global sustainability and resource productivity practice, where she served clients on cleantech growth strategy.
Co-founder and partner, Cerulean Ventures
Co-founder and partner, Cerulean Ventures
Jahed Momand is co-founder and general partner at Cerulean Ventures, which backs pre-seed/seed-stage companies building climate and nature-tech businesses to create energy and nature markets for planetary-scale regeneration and climate impact. Prior to Cerulean Mr Momand co-founded Magalix, a machine-learning platform for developer operations, where he led product and marketing and exited the company to WeaveWorks (UK) in 2021.
Director investment relations, Trousdale Ventures
Director investment relations, Trousdale Ventures
Tyler Gwinn has been director of investment relations at Trousdale Ventures since 2023. His career has spanned roles across several sectors, including Endeavor and its fund, Endeavor Catalyst, Riot Games and an American beauty brand. He also played a pivotal role in a deep-tech firm chaired by Eric Schmidt. Beyond his business pursuits Mr Gwinn is an advocate for political and environmental activism, with a commitment to integrating his professional influence with societal and environmental stewardship.
Co-founder, SolarCity
Co-founder, SolarCity
Peter Rive is a co-founder and chief technology officer of SolarCity. He is also an adviser at Faber Ventures and serves as chairman at Sofar, and as a board member of Solarcycle and of Bellwether Coffee. Mr Rive has helped grow SolarCity into the largest full-service solar provider in the United States, installing one in every three new residential solar systems. As CTO he develops the strategy and direction of SolarCity’s next-generation software and hardware technologies, including battery systems, solar mounting hardware and solar module technology. Before he co-founded SolarCity Mr Rive was CTO at Everdream, where he designed a software platform to centralise computer management.
General partner, Katapult Ocean
General partner, Katapult Ocean
Mr. Ross Brooks serves as Investment Director and Partner at Katapult Ocean. He was a vital member of LeapFrog’s Investor Relations team and plays an important role in building LeapFrog’s global investor community. He began his career within the institutional client communications team at Baillie Gifford, an independent global investment manager. Here he served as an Analyst specializing in emerging market equity strategies, with a principal role in reporting operations. He has a special interest in economic development, completing his dissertation on the challenges arising from concentrated rent distributions in Emerging Markets. He holds a Master of Arts in Economics from Heriot Watt University, with a focus on Environmental and Development economics, where he graduated first place in his cohort.
Executive director, Global Ocean Trust
Executive director, Global Ocean Trust
Torsten Thiele is an expert in ocean governance and sustainable blue finance, with over 20 years’ experience in project, technology and infrastructure finance with financial institutions, as well as almost a decade of ocean research. He is founder of the Global Ocean Trust, a member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, and an adviser to the IUCN Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility and the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance. Mr Thiele’s areas of expertise include ocean solutions, governance and policy, marine biodiversity, the sustainable blue economy and innovative blue finance. His recent publications address climate policy, coastal infrastructure finance, nature-based solutions and innovative ocean-funding mechanisms.
Policy, technology and innovative strategies are transforming blue-food supply chains to increase accountability and transparency. This session will identify what is being done to build trust throughout supply chains and outline what more is needed.
Chief procurement officer, Migros Industrie
Chief procurement officer, Migros Industrie
Since 2020 Frank Arendt has been chief procurement officer of Migros Industrie, a private-label manufacturer serving Switzerland’s leading retailer, Migros. He previously worked in consulting and fast-moving consumer goods, spending 23 years with Procter & Gamble in Germany, Russia, Belgium and Switzerland.
Group seafood sustainability manager, Europe, Thai Union
Group seafood sustainability manager, Europe, Thai Union
Chief technology officer, Zeal Industries
Chief technology officer, Zeal Industries
After stints in investment banking and as an in-house financial analyst, my current role is Chief Technology Officer at Zeal Industries.
As a tech enthusiast in a rapidly evolving landscape, I’m driven by the potential of technology to solve global challenges. My passion lies in leveraging the latest technology and data analytics to develop impactful solutions that empower individuals and communities to thrive in an interconnected world.
The world faces numerous difficult challenges. In many cases, technology can offer solutions, of which we as a company are developing our own. At the same time, we believe governments and corporations should join in the effort and prioritise investment in technology.
Global director of impact, Forum for the Future
Global director of impact, Forum for the Future
Martin Koehring is global director of impact at the international sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future. He leads Forum’s programmatic work (which focuses on the food and energy transitions and the purpose of business); its change-making “practice”; and overall programmatic quality and monitoring, evaluation and learning. Before joining Forum Mr Koehring was head of Economist Impact’s World Ocean Initiative and led Economist Impact’s sustainability, climate change and natural-resources practice in the EMEA region. He is a trustee of the New Economics Foundation (a think-tank focusing on social, economic and environmental justice) and sits on the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Inclusive Economies Advisory Group and the Sustainable Brands Turkey global advisory board.
International fishing is a complex business. Ownership of ships, murky regulations for taxes and fishing licences, costs of crew and labour all contribute to the lack of transparency in the global fishing industry. While technology supports accountability and efficiency, it cannot replace patrolling the lawless seas. This session will dive into the details of combating illegal fishing, collaborating with governments and using technology to monitor the ocean.
Director of campaigns, Sea Shepherd
Director of campaigns, Sea Shepherd
Peter Hammarstedt is director of campaigns and a board member of Sea Shepherd Global, and chairman of Sea Shepherd Australia. He is captain of the ocean-going vessel Bob Barker, having spent more than 19 years at sea, including ten years in Antarctica. In 2014-15 Bob Barker set a world record for the longest pursuit of a poaching vessel at sea. For the past few years Mr Hammarstedt has provided civilian offshore patrol vessels (COPVs), under so-called “ship rider” agreements, to the African coastal states of Benin, Gabon, the Gambia, Liberia, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Tanzania, to help stop illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Briefings editor, The Economist
Briefings editor, The Economist
Oliver Morton is The Economist’s briefings editor. Before joining the newspaper in 2009 as energy and environment editor, he worked at Nature and Wired. Mr Morton specialises in the energy business, climate science and policy, and other green issues. As a writer on scientific, technological and planetary change, he is the author of four books: “Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination and the Birth of a World” (2002), “Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet” (2007), “The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World” (2015) and “The Moon: A History for the Future” (2019). They all deal with understanding and imagining planetary processes, especially climate change on Earth.
Founding partner, Ocean 14 Capital
Founding partner, Ocean 14 Capital
Chris Gorell Barnes is a social entrepreneur focused on solving the crisis in the oceans. He is founding partner of Ocean 14 Capital, an impact fund with a mission to ensure a healthy ocean for everyone through a sustainable and regenerative blue economy. Mr Barnes is also co-founder of the Blue Marine Foundation, a charity dedicated to creating marine reserves and establishing sustainable models of fishing.
Founder, Fish 2.0 Ventures
Founder, Fish 2.0 Ventures
Monica Jain, founder and executive director of Fish 2.0 and Manta Consulting, is dedicated to growing networks that bring together her passions for fisheries and the oceans, finance and impact investment. She launched Fish 2.0 in 2013 to create a network of entrepreneurs and investors who could grow the sustainable seafood sector. Since then she has worked with over 400 entrepreneurs, 300 investors and 40 sponsors. Ms Jain’s career over the past 30 years has encompassed marine biology, philanthropy, venture capital, banking and international development. Alongside Fish 2.0 she works as a strategic advisor and consultant to foundations, investors and corporations.
Vice-president corporate development, oceans, S2G Ventures
Vice-president corporate development, oceans, S2G Ventures
Maggie Fried is vice-president for corporate development at S2G Ventures, where she works to drive value for portfolios and strategic partners across the Builders Vision Oceans platforms. Ms Fried previously led the Oceans, Seafood and Aquaculture Investor Consortium at CREO, where she built a consortium of global investors and catalysed over $300m from this group into investments in sustainable oceans. Her experience also includes partnerships, strategy and executive leadership of venture funds and NGOs in the US and other countries.
Partner, Faber Blue Pioneers
Partner, Faber Blue Pioneers
Executive director, Global Ocean Trust
Executive director, Global Ocean Trust
Torsten Thiele is an expert in ocean governance and sustainable blue finance, with over 20 years’ experience in project, technology and infrastructure finance with financial institutions, as well as almost a decade of ocean research. He is founder of the Global Ocean Trust, a member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, and an adviser to the IUCN Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility and the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance. Mr Thiele’s areas of expertise include ocean solutions, governance and policy, marine biodiversity, the sustainable blue economy and innovative blue finance. His recent publications address climate policy, coastal infrastructure finance, nature-based solutions and innovative ocean-funding mechanisms.
Discussions at the International Seabed Authority have for the moment led to a pause on deep-sea mining, providing relief for those requesting that precautionary principles are applied. This session will assess the status of international talks, bringing together major stakeholders for an open discussion.
Executive director, Seas At Risk
Executive director, Seas At Risk
Monica Verbeek leads Seas At Risk, a Brussels-based umbrella organisation of more than 30 environmental NGOs from across Europe that promotes ambitious policies for marine protection in the EU and internationally. She has been an advocate for strong ocean protection since the early 1990s, when she was a campaigner for Greenpeace in the Netherlands. During her career Ms Verbeek has addressed issues including marine protected areas, fisheries, deep-sea mining and other aspects of the blue economy. She has co-founded several coalitions and held positions on advisory bodies. Her passion for all things ocean was sparked by her study of narwhals in the Arctic.
Chief sustainability officer, The Metals Company
Chief sustainability officer, The Metals Company
Erica Ocampo joined The Metals Company from Sims Limited, a global metals and electronics recovery company, where she led the development of a company-wide sustainability strategy, including materiality assessments, goals and KPI development, and implementation of data collection systems. Prior to her role at Sims Ms Ocampo spearheaded sustainability projects across various business units at Dow, including as global sustainability strategy manager for its consumer solutions business. As chief sustainability officer Ms Ocampo is responsible for ensuring that The Metals Company’s strategy is grounded in sustainability principles across the value chain and customer base, as well as addressing ESG impacts in offshore and onshore operations.
State secretary, Norwegian ministry of foreign affairs, Norway
State secretary, Norwegian ministry of foreign affairs, Norway
Maria Varteressian was appointed State Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on November 3rd, 2023.
She has an overall responsibility for Norway’s relations with Europe, including the EU and European Economic Area. Her portfolio also includes responsibility for regional cooperation in the High North, business promotion, the green transition, energy, climate, oceans and sustainability in Norway’s foreign policy.
Varteressian comes from the position as foreign policy adviser for EU and EEA issues in the Norwegian Labour Party’s parliamentary group. From 2021 to 2023, she was political adviser to the Minister of Climate and Environment. In the Ministry of Climate and Environment, she had political responsibility for marine and northern region issues. Prior to this, Varteressian was an energy and climate policy advisor for the Labour Party in the Norwegian Parliament. She also has work experience from civil society, including from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Varteressian holds a master’s degree in globalisation from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Director, ocean, IUCN
Director, ocean, IUCN
Minna Epps is director of the IUCN ocean team, and oversees the operations and development of the programme by seeking new strategic partnerships. She is engaged in the global ocean agenda and participates in several management groups, boards and high-level networks. Ms Epps has over 20 years’ experience in international environmental work, primarily in the marine field, ranging from fieldwork in Madagascar to policy work in Geneva, including the Marine Stewardship Council, European Commission, UN Environment Programme, World Trade Organisation and conservation NGOs.
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
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President, Forum Oceano
President, Forum Oceano
António Nogueira Leite is professor of business strategy and governance at the Nova School of Business and Economics in Portugal, and has been chairman of Fórum Oceano, the managing entity of the Portuguese blue-economy cluster. Before this he was chairman of Oceano XXI, the original Portuguese ocean cluster. Mr Leite has previously held positions in government, as secretary of state of treasury and finance, and in business, as chairman of the Lisbon Stock Exchange, vice-chief executive of Caixa Geral de Depósitos banking group, and a board member of Brisa, Efacec, Bondalti, CUF, and EDP Renewables.
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
The future of ocean health, conservation initiatives and restoration efforts depends on multi-stakeholder and cross-sectional collaboration. This session will focus on how to make complex political, social and financial systems work together for the ocean.
President, Forum Oceano
President, Forum Oceano
António Nogueira Leite is professor of business strategy and governance at the Nova School of Business and Economics in Portugal, and has been chairman of Fórum Oceano, the managing entity of the Portuguese blue-economy cluster. Before this he was chairman of Oceano XXI, the original Portuguese ocean cluster. Mr Leite has previously held positions in government, as secretary of state of treasury and finance, and in business, as chairman of the Lisbon Stock Exchange, vice-chief executive of Caixa Geral de Depósitos banking group, and a board member of Brisa, Efacec, Bondalti, CUF, and EDP Renewables.
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
The World Ocean Initiative’s Ocean Changemakers Challenge helps identify innovative solutions that promote the well-being of our oceans while fostering economic growth. Join us to celebrate the winners of this year’s challenge and learn from the mentors who will support their efforts and journey for a healthier ocean.
Chief executive, PlanA
Chief executive, PlanA
Lubomila Jordanova is co-founder and chief executive of Plan A, Europe’s leading provider of corporate carbon-accounting, decarbonisation and ESG-reporting software. She is also co-founder of the Greentech Alliance, a community of more than 3,500 startups connected to more than 500 advisors from venture capital, media and business. Ms Jordanova is a member of the International Advisory Board for Social Innovation under Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and an advisory board member to the Sustainability Board at Chloé. Prior to Plan A she worked in investment banking and venture capital as well as the fintech industry in Asia and Europe.
Chief sustainability officer, Standard Chartered
Chief sustainability officer, Standard Chartered
Marisa Drew was appointed chief sustainability officer at Standard Chartered Bank in July 2022. During her 30-year career she has worked at Merrill Lynch, later joining Credit Suisse in the investment-banking area. In 2017 Ms Drew founded Credit Suisse’s Impact Advisory and Finance Group, of which she was CEO. She is a non-executive director of the City of London Corporation and of Liberty Global, a US-listed broadband and mobile company. She also serves on the advisory boards of the Aspen Institute UK and the Milken Institute Centre for Strategic Philanthropy, and on several high-level working groups of the World Economic Forum and the UN, including the UN Oceans Panel.
Founder and principal, Investable Oceans
Founder and principal, Investable Oceans
Co-founder, rrreefs
Co-founder, rrreefs
Ulrike Pfreundt is a German ocean scientist, entrepreneur, and curious thinker, whose award-winning work has been featured in scientific journals and traditional media alike. She is alumna of ETH Zürich and Silicon Valley’s Singularity University. In 2020, Ulrike co-founded rrreefs, an environmental impact startup that rebuilds degraded coral reefs. Driven by their passion for the ocean and the urgency of dying coral reefs, Ulrike and her co-founders create biodiversity-boosting modular reef systems from terracotta to safeguard our ocean.
Co-founder, Water Warriors
Co-founder, Water Warriors
Steve Chamberland is the Co–Founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Water Warriors, a scientifically driven company providing innovative products and technologies to protect and bring our waterways back to health.
SOS Carbon
SOS Carbon
Andrés Bisonó León, from the Dominican Republic, is an innovative ClimateTech and AgTech entrepreneur dedicated to blending social impact with sustainable practices in ocean conservation and agriculture. With an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and dual degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Finance from Drexel University, Andres founded and lead SOS Carbon Inc. SOS Carbon, born within MIT’s Mechanical Engineering department, addresses ocean pollution from chemical fertilizers and the sargassum seaweed invasion threatening the Caribbean’s tourism, Ocean ecosystems, and human health. The company innovatively transforms sargassum into biostimulants, organic fertilizers, promoting circular solutions and local employment leveraging a competitive advantage through vertical integration. SOS Carbon unique proprietary technologies also turn sargassum seaweed invasions problem into a natural carbon sequestering opportunity. Andres’s efforts are recognized through his affiliations with the MIT and the Legatum and PKG Fellowships, underscoring his commitment to sustainable development and environmental stewardship through new production industries with a global reach.
Head of business development, World Ocean Initiative, Economist Impact
Head of business development, World Ocean Initiative, Economist Impact
Tatiana Der Avedissian is head of business development for Economist Impact’s World Ocean Initiative and sits on The Economist Group’s sustainability steering committee. Outside of work she advises other organisations with their strategic communication and business needs, including Alkionides UK, where she is co-president, and the Armenian Institute, where she is chair of the board of trustees. Ms Der Avedissian is co-founder of The Armenia Project, co-president of the Harvard Kennedy School Women’s Network and board member of the UK-Cyprus Enterprise Council. She was recently appointed adviser and climate-justice co-ordinator for the 2024 meeting of the W7, a women’s rights and gender equality engagement group within the G7, in Italy.
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Secretary of state for marine affairs, Portugal
Secretary of state for marine affairs, Portugal
José Maria Costa was appointed secretary of state for maritime affairs in March 2022. A senior worker at the Viana do Castelo Shipyard in northern Portugal from 1986 to 1994, he served as the municipality’s deputy mayor and then councillor from 1994 until 2009, when he was elected mayor, a position he held until 2021. Mr Costa represented Viana do Castelo on the governing boards of several utilities companies, and was a member of the corporate body of the Association for the Collaboration between Ports and Cities – RETE from 2013 to 2017. He has also chaired the board of the Group for Local Coastal Action – North.
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Editorial director, Economist Impact
Charles Goddard imagines and builds the Group’s flagship initiatives, the purpose of which is to catalyse progress on key issues of the day. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to ocean health, focusing particularly on healthcare, the Anthropocene and the blue economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, director of research in Asia, and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is concurrently executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.
Briefings editor, The Economist
Briefings editor, The Economist
Oliver Morton is The Economist’s briefings editor. Before joining the newspaper in 2009 as energy and environment editor, he worked at Nature and Wired. Mr Morton specialises in the energy business, climate science and policy, and other green issues. As a writer on scientific, technological and planetary change, he is the author of four books: “Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination and the Birth of a World” (2002), “Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet” (2007), “The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World” (2015) and “The Moon: A History for the Future” (2019). They all deal with understanding and imagining planetary processes, especially climate change on Earth.
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