Event at Monaco Ocean Week 2024

On the second day of the 2024 Monaco Ocean Week, this half day event debating the hot topic of potential  ocean-based approaches to help address OA and climate change drew a full house. During two panel discussions, moderated by a journalist, experts from science, economy, conservation, policy and business debated the potential benefits and challenges of ocean-based measures to combat climate change and ocean acidification, with a special focus on protecting and restoring blue carbon ecosystems (a nature-based approach) and ocean alkalinity enhancement (a technological approach).

Olivier Wenden, Vice President & Chief Executive Officer, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, and Florence Descroix-Comanducci, Director, IAEA Marine Environment Laboratories provided opening remarks, followed by a high-level keynote speech by Mahlet Naomi Mesfin, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Ocean, Fisheries and Polar Affairs, US Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. Jean-Pierre Gattuso, Research Director, CNRS, Sorbonne University- IDDRI set the stage before the panels with an overview of ocean-based solutions.

The event was closed by Chrystel Chanteloube, Head of Division & National Focal Point to UNFCCC, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Monaco Government.

The event was co-organized by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (FPA2), the IAEA OA-ICC, the Scientific Centre of Monaco, the Monaco Oceanographic Institute, the Monaco Government, CNRS, IDDRI and IUCN in the framework of the OACIS initiative. It was co-sponsored by the OA-ICC and FPA2.

Panel 1: Role of blue carbon in climate mitigation and adaptation

Panelists:

·       Minna Epps, Director, Global Marine and Polar Programme, IUCN

·       Jana Friedrich, Section Head, Radioecology laboratory, Marine Environment Laboratories of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

·       Nathalie Hilmi, Section Head, Environmental Economics, Scientific Centre of Monaco

·       Michel Kaine, Founder & CEO, Grogenics

·       Phillip Williamson, Honorary Associate Professor, University of East Anglia

Panel 2: Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement - can it work and what are the consequences?

Panelists:

·       Daniela Basso, Full Professor, Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University Milano-Bicocca

·       Alexandra Deprez, Research Fellow, International climate governance, IDDRI

·       Nicolas Sdez, CEO & Co-founder, PRONoe

·       Robert Steenkamp, Chair of International Law of the Sea and International Environmental Law,

·       University of Hamburg and GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel

·       Douglas Wallace, Professor, Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University