World Oceans Summit to Examine Future Use and Governance of Seas

The Economist is organizing the “World Oceans Summit” (Singapore, 22-24 Feb 2012), which will bring together a program of more than 200 global leaders from various sectors and disciplines, including business, government, academia, international organizations and NGOs.

The World Ocean Council (WOC) is a member of the summit’s Advisory Board and the WOC Executive Director, Paul Holthus, is an invited plenary speaker. The WOC is working closely with The Economist to ensure the program for the gathering, their first ocean event, is balanced and includes solid representation from the ocean business community.

Several WOC Members are invited speakers, including: Spyros Polemis, Chairman, International Chamber of Shipping and Tim Smith, Chief Executive Officer, North Asia, Maersk Line. Other confirmed speakers include: Robert Zoellick, President, World Bank; Teo Chee Hean Deputy Prime Minister, Government of Singapore; and Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

The summit will present a robust and objective multi-stakeholder examination of critical issues affecting the future of the seas such as:

– How can the economic potential of the oceans be realized in a sustainable way?

– What kind of global leadership and collaboration is needed to address the challenges of ocean sustainability?

– Could new governance frameworks deliver better results for the oceans?

– How can business take the lead in reducing the footprint of human activities in the oceans?

[mappress]

World Maritime News Staff, December 1, 2011