Ocean Futures 2030: the state of our common ocean governance
The University of Bergen and the Embassy of France to Norway have partnered to co-organise this special event on ocean governance. The event is free to attend and open to all interested parties. This page will be updated with more information.
Main content
- The event will be followed by a reception, which is free and open to all.
In December 2022 the COP 15 meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) agreed on the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). In June 2023 the member states of the United Nations adopted the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement, after 19 years of negotiations.
In this special event we will look at the status for these two global frameworks-agreements. With the COP 16 CBD taking place in Cali, Colombia in October followed by the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku in November, where the role of the ocean in climate change will be key in discussions, there is a lot at stake this autumn. This in turn leads to the third UN Ocean Conference in Nice in June 2025.
One of the main challenges of both BBNJ and the GBF is reaching the 30 by 30 goal: the pledge to protect 30 per cent of the planet’s land and inland waters as well as of marine and coastal areas by 2030.
To discuss these topics broadly we bring together researchers, diplomats, policymakers, and other interested parties to look at what ocean governance mechanisms and entities exist or are emerging to secure proper implementation of these frameworks-agreements on the ocean-climate-biodiversity nexus. The aim is to provide scientific answers to ongoing policy issues and debates.
We ask:
- How can research-based knowledge and other forms of knowledge contribute to enhance ocean governance?
- How can we make different mechanisms work together in a geopolitically challenging situation?
- What is the status of 30 by 30 in different UN member states? And how can science contribute?
- What are the issues/topics in BBNJ and CBD/GBF of particular relevance to science?
This discussion on the ocean/climate/biodiversity nexus will highlight UiB’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, Life Below Water, where the university holds leading positions for both the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and the International Association of Universities (IAU).
The event is organised by Professor Lise Øvreås, SEAS Postdoctoral Fellow João Bettencourt and Senior Adviser Sverre Ole Drønen.
- Programme/speakers will be announced soon.
FACTS
Ocean Futures 2030
- Ocean Futures 2030 is a series on the ocean/climate/biodiversity nexus.
- The series is organised by the University of Bergen with partners.
- The first event in the series was during the inaugural One Ocean Week in Bergen in April 2023.
- The two previous events in the series were “Ocean Futures 2030: Science and diplomacy for ocean governance – our common ocean” in Brussels in February 2024 and “Ocean Futures 2030: Developing a science diplomacy for the ocean we want” in Barcelona during the Ocean Decade Conference in April 2024.
- Official hashtags for the event: #OF2030 and #OceanFutures2030
- Suggested additional hashtags: #OceanGovernance #ForTheOcean #SDG14 #OceanDecade #havforvaltning
- Read more about the Ocean Futures 2030 series.
