About Us
9th Our Ocean Conference Greece 2024
The ocean plays a key role in human existence; it is essential for our survival, well-being and prosperity. It provides food, regulates our climate, and generates most of the oxygen we breathe. It also serves much of the world’s economy, supporting sectors from tourism to fisheries and to international shipping while it is connected to our culture and is a major source of inspiration.
However, the health of seas and the ocean, and of marine ecosystems in particular, is threatened by unsustainable practices such as discharges of wastewater and marine litter, unregulated and unreported fishing, unsustainable shipping and tourism activities. To mitigate the negative impacts from human interventionsactivities and improve the current state of our oceans, it is essential to join efforts on a global scale.
Collaboration among nations, NGOs, private entities, academia, professional groups, civil society organizations and more, is of paramount importance for implementing effective solutions, fostering sustainable practices, and safeguarding the delicate equilibrium of our oceans.
You can read more about the 9th Our Ocean Conference (OOC), here.
WELCOME TO GREECE
Welcome to Greece, the crossroad of three continents in the Mediterranean Sea where culture, people and civilizations meet. Greece has more than 15,000 kilometers of coastline, thousands of islands and a long standing tradition as a maritime nation. Still today the shipping industry together with tourism are the country’s two most important economic sectors.
For Greece, preserving marine biodiversity and ecosystems is crucial, given the extensive coastal areas and islands which render effective controls over pollution and overfishing challenging.
It is important that we take all the necessary political, legal, and technical actions to preserve coastal communities and marine natural resources and ensure that the economic growth is sustainable and inclusive for all our citizens and for the generations to come.
The promotion of the Blue Economy, through improving fishing practices, greening maritime transport, promoting sustainable tourism, and developing environmentally sound offshore renewable energy, is an essential priority as a means to achieve our SDG goals and safeguard prosperity for our current and future societies.
The Conference is scheduled to take place in Athens, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.
