The World Economic Forum and the Marine Science Institute of University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), have announced a partnership to improve the health of the world’s oceans and maritime resources.
The new partnership aims to protect world’s $2.5-trillion ocean economy.
This partnership will harness the potential of public-private cooperation and the fourth industrial revolution to help the international community meet the ocean sustainable development goal.
Part of the World Economic Forum’s New Vision for Ocean Initiative, the aim is to bring together public, private and civil society sector stakeholders to achieve goal number 14 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
The partnership would follow the multistakeholder model of other successful environmental public-private partnerships brokered by, or hosted at the World Economic Forum, such as the Alliance of Climate Leaders, Global Water Initiative, Circular Economy initiatives and the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020.
It will be supported by the Benioff Ocean Initiative, an applied programme within UCSB’s Marine Science Institute, using science to improve ocean health, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, a fund to advance ocean science, protection and management.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, oceans generate goods and services worth an estimated $2.5 trillion per year, equivalent to the seventh largest economy in the world.