Several senior U.S. officials this week participated in The Economist’s virtual World Ocean Summit. In addition to a keynote interview with U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry on “Ambition and Action to Save the Ocean,” U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad participated in a panel discussion on “Connecting the Silos for a Healthy Ocean” and U.S. Asst. Sec. of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Monica Medina participated in a panel discussion on “How States Can Become Better Stakeholders In the Future of the Ocean.”
Among other things, Kerry noted ocean initiatives in 2022 to shape policy, including the upcoming Our Ocean Conference in Palau to be co-hosted by the United States (which he said will involve commitments with regard to ocean set-asides/marine protected areas), efforts to move forward on the treaty for conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity on the high seas, the UN Ocean Conference this summer, and the COP 27 meeting in Egypt later this year. Kerry also called on the International Maritime Organization to adopt a zero emissions policy for the global shipping industry by 2050 and measures and interim goals that will provide a credible pathway to full decarbonization.
Spinrad among other things talked about the new Blue Economy and how it can be leveraged through collaboration to connect current silos, calling it “a fundamentally different concept” from the traditional Blue Economy, and referring to it as a knowledge-based economy that looks to the ocean for the extraction of data and information to address societal and environmental challenges rather than for the extraction of material goods.
He also cited work with the private sector including cooperative R&D agreements with data and service providers including Saildrone, collaboration with the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on offshore wind development, climate and equity community roundtables focused on geography and phenomenology, and co-development of solutions with international stakeholders. Additionally, Spinrad noted U.S.’s membership in the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy and underscored the role of the ocean in climate solutions.
As to the United States, Medina said that “we are back” when it comes to the ocean, saying that the Biden administration wants to maximize the ocean’s environmental, economic, and social benefits, and that one way to do that is through the U.S.’s recent accession to the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, stating that “we need to plan” in order to maximize our ability to use ocean resource sustainably.
Medina also cited a focus on supporting ocean-based solutions to mitigate climate change, dedication to supporting ocean science and technology, and a commitment to protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030. As to the latter, she said that the U.S. is almost near the target goal, stating that the country has a huge Exclusive Economic Zone and that well over 25% is already protected. Medina also discussed negotiations for a global agreement on plastics and regional solutions for addressing illegal fishing, and cited opportunities for nations to come together to connect marine protected areas (specifically calling out an agreement among Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica to create the world’s largest MPA network).
