Advancing a Blue Future: The World Ocean Summit 2018

Climate Change

WILDCOAST had the opportunity to attend The World Ocean Summit in Cancun, Mexico. The summit was an amazing experience that provided us with the rare chance to  listen and meet with business leaders, ocean conservationists and top government officials from around the world about collaborating to conserve the long-term health of the ocean. The President  of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto attended as well as Mexico’s Secretary of the Environment, Rafael Pacchiano, and Catherine McKenna, Canada’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.

The WILDCOAST team was able to network with officials from Mexico’s Secretary of the Environment, including talk to Environmental Secretary Pacchiano about our Blue Carbon Initiative in Mexico. We also met with officials of the Environmental Agency of Abu Dhabi, Canada and the U.S., as well as with our colleagues at of the World Wildlife Fund, Pew Charitable Trusts,  the Conservation International Team, and our partners from the Packard Foundation and El Centro Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, amongst others.

“The Ocean Summit reiterated our belief that WILDCOAST’s Blue Carbon Initiative is truly cutting-edge. With each conversation and during the panels discussions we discovered that there is a tremendous interest in both the capacity of mangroves in reducing carbon emissions as well as blue carbon’s possibilities of reactivating the global carbon market” said Eduardo Najera, WILDCOAST’s Mexico Director.

One of the main goals of this conference was to increase the engagement of the private sector with ocean conservation initiatives. Many panel discussions explored new ways for the private sector to invest in and fund ocean sustainability.

“Every leader who spoke at the World Ocean Summit emphasized that more than ever we need to invest in preserving the ocean in a sustainable way”, said Fay Crevoshay, Communications and Policy Director of WILDCOAST. “That is our path forward for a Blue future.”