Beyond Net Zero: The Role of the Ocean in Climate Repair Oceans of Knowledge Conference, 18 October 2023
Exploring all options and working together are vital to mitigate climate change says IMarEST ahead of its forthcoming Oceans of Knowledge conference that will look at the role of the ocean in climate repair.
Professor Ralph Rayner, FIMarEST, co-chair of the IMarEST Operational Oceanography special interest group, says: “When it comes to climate change, we are at crisis point. There is no single solution. Stabilising and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are an essential part of the solution, but that alone will not leave us with a solved climate crisis. We must also look beyond net zero, to options for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and ensuring its long-term sequestration. The ocean could play a vital role.”
The conference will bring together experts from a wide range of disciplines to discuss how to make most effective use of the ocean’s capacity to remove and sequester carbon in delivery of net zero and beyond, while regenerating healthy ocean environments and essential ecosystem services.
Ralph adds: “We will examine what can be achieved through restoration of natural ocean systems that contribute to removing carbon dioxide and the opportunities for scaling a variety of ocean climate repair solutions.”
The conference will set the critical future use of the ocean into the context of associated scientific, technological, engineering, operational and regulatory challenges. It will focus on the ocean data, information and knowledge needed to inform use of the ocean in climate repair.
Conference sessions include:
- Climate Repair and the Ocean
- Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal, Sequestration and storage
- Monitoring, Reporting and Verification
- Ocean Information Needs
Speakers include Dr Chris Jones, Research Fellow, Earth System and Mitigation Science Team, UK Met Office, Keynote speaker Sir David King, Founder, Centre for Climate Repair and Dr Brian von Herzen, Executive Director, and the Climate Foundation among many others.
Gus Jeans, co-chair of the IMarEST Operational Oceanography special interest group, adds: “This is an issue that requires the greatest level of collaboration across the globe, and to reflect this the conference is being delivered by a partnership of organisations focussed on climate solutions.”
Conference partners include: the Institute of Physics, the Society for Underwater Technology, the Royal Meteorological Society, the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, the Climate Foundation, the Rising Seas Institute and Ocean Visions.
The conference is also supported by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), the National Oceanography Centre, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the Society of Maritime Industries, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Carbon to Sea Initiative with headline sponsorship from the Schmidt Ocean Institute and the Covelya Group.
About the conference:
Location: In person at the Institute of Physics London. There will also be opportunity for remote participation worldwide,
Date: 18 October 2023.
Full conference programme, further details and registration information can be found here
