Our Ocean Countdown, Greece 2024: An Ocean of Potential

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Greece will host the 9th Our Ocean Conference in 2024, which will take place in Athens from April 16 to 17, with a youth summit on April 15. This year's motto, "Our Ocean, An Ocean of Potential," is inspired by the key role the ocean plays in human existence; it is essential for our survival and prosperity. It provides food, regulates our climate, and generates most of the oxygen we breathe. It also serves much of the world's economy, supporting sectors from tourism to fisheries and to international shipping.

Greece, a country with an extended coastline of over 15,000 kilometers and hundreds of islands, as well as a nation with a long tradition of seamanship, not only recognizes the need for prompt reaction but has already taken bold and concrete measures in this direction. This year's Conference will give a special emphasis on sustainable tourism, green shipping, marine plastic pollution, as well as the Mediterranean region's green transition.

The Our Ocean Conference was first launched under the initiative of the U.S. Department of State in 2014. Since then, it has become a forum for dialogue that brings together governments, international organizations, academia, the private sector, and NGOs that share a common vision for the protection of the oceans and taking action to support this vision. The conference focuses on six Areas of Action: promoting marine protected areas, fostering a sustainable blue economy, tackling the climate crisis, supporting maritime security, advancing sustainable fisheries, and combating marine pollution.

As part of Greece's efforts to build support for this year's Our Ocean Conference and encourage ambitious announcements, the Wilson Center and the Embassy of Greece in Washington, DC will host a special dialogue on Greece's goals for the Our Ocean Conference. This event will feature Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Gerapetritis and the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry.

Select Quotes

George Gerapetritis, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic

• "It is of utmost importance to try and keep up a positive momentum not only among State actors but also among private individuals, NGOs, enterprises, and obviously among think tanks and scientists."
• "It has been ten years since our first Ocean Conference was organized after Secretary Kerry's initial idea, an idea that proved to be inspirational for the international community, and that created a new result-oriented model. This model should be the basis of any action against climate change."
• "Nothing can be achieved without the active engagement of the future of our planet, our youth."
• "Greece wants to reaffirm its commitment for transition to a blue economy and to utilize the advantages of a new balance between economic growth, social cohesion, and sustainability."

John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

• "We are seeing in the fisheries of the world the strip mining of the ocean."
• 'We have a responsibility here to try to […] actually practice sustainability and put it into workability."
• "The 2024 'Our Ocean Conference' is a conference where we are going to galvanize action. […] The scale of announcements and the resources that this conference has generated make it stand out."
• "If shipping were a nation, it would be the eight largest emitter of greenhouse gases. […] We have reason to hope that the shipping industry is going to turn over its current set of diesel and other powered ships into being decarbonized shipping within the next 20 years."