From 10 - 12 April 2024, over 1.500 in-person participants and thousands of virtual participants gathered for the 2024 Ocean Decade Conference, which was hosted by Spain, and co-organized by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC/UNESCO) in close collaboration with the Region of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Council.
A large-scale platform for representatives from the scientific community, governments, NGOs and civil society, philanthropy, industry, and United Nations entities, this event engaged all voices in the conversation surrounding ocean protection and conservation. Conference discussions applauded the significant achievements of the Ocean Decade as the largest global ocean science initiative ever undertaken and identified future priorities for ocean knowledge and science generation.
The Conference ended with a landmark series of major announcements and commitments including the:
- Launch of a roadmap for cooperation between IOC/UNESCO and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation in the framework of the Ocean Decade.
- Launch of new Ocean Decade programmes on sustainable ocean planning, and on sustainable ocean management in Africa.
- Commitment by the Barcelona City Council and the Port of Barcelona to develop a Decade Collaborative Centre focusing on sustainable ocean economy.
- Launch of the Ocean Matcher Tool to enhance opportunities for philanthropic funding to Decade Actions.
- Launch of new funding opportunities for Africa through the Belmont Forum, and SIDS through the Marine Institute, Ireland.
- Launch of the Cities with the Ocean Platform to enhance the use of science for policy and decision making by coastal cities, including the offer of Qingdao Municipality to host the first Ocean Decade Coastal Cities Conference in 2025.
The Conference concluded by setting the tone for further collective and concrete actions, outlined in the newly launched 2024 Ocean Decade Barcelona Statement. Based on insights shared by the global ocean community, the Statement identifies the priority areas of action for the Ocean Decade in the coming years. Vidar Helgesen, IOC/UNESCO Executive Secretary and Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, called to consider it as an actionable framework to be included in implemented scenarios to orient, guide, and refine existing initiatives, as well as new ones, on local, national, and global scales.
The Flemish government, represented by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and the Belgium National Decade Committee (NDC-BE), was one of the conference sponsors. Members of VLIZ and/or NDC-BE participated in the conference as speaker/presenter in several oral sessions, the poster session and information booths. For the full participation overview, see the ‘Ocean decade conference 2024 report for National Decade Committee Belgium’.