Lisa Blair at UN Ocean Day
Australian adventurer, advocate and author, Lisa Blair spoke out about the collection of important ocean data at the United Nations World Ocean Day event.
14 June 2022
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Lisa Blair, the first woman to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around Australia and who recently broke the record for circumnavigating the Antarctic, was included as a speaker in the 2022 United Nations World Ocean Day, which took place at the UN Headquarters in New York on 8 June.
The event highlighted the theme of Revitalisation: Collective Action for the Ocean. It was the first hybrid celebration of the annual event, hosted in-person and broadcast live.
Hosted by the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs, with the generous contribution of Oceanic Global, which is made possible by La Mer, the event sheds light on the communities, ideas and solutions that are working together to protect and revitalise the ocean and everything it sustains.
Dr. Sylvia Earle, marine biologist, oceanographer and explorer, opened the event by explaining this year’s theme.
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Blair spoke with Martin Kramp from Ocean Ops about Citizen Science and the importance of this work in collecting data that otherwise would not have been possible.
“The ocean is the most important resource and together we need to take positive action to protect it for our futures,” Blair said.
“Let’s all take climate action now for our oceans and together we can revitalise our world.”
She encouraged people to walk along the beach and spend a few minutes collecting any rubbish found to make sure this doesn’t end up in the waters.
Other speakers included Sheena Talma, a marine biologist consultant with the Nekton Science Program; Kate Orff, founding principal of SCAPE; James Kairo, chief scientist at Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute; Editrudith Lakanga, executive director at EMEDO and Shinobu Namae, executive chef at Relais & Châteaux L’Effervescence.
A panel exploring how to take a regenerative and collective approach to build a resilient ocean economy also took place. Topics included ocean finance, innovation through startups and entrepreneurs, capacity building and private sector collaboration.
Moderated by Martin Koehring, speakers included Kendra MacDonald, CEO of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, Whitney Johnston, director of ocean sustainability at Salesforce and Andrew Hudson, head of the Water and Ocean Governance Program at UNDP.
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