Ocean Unite Embarks On a New Phase of its Mission

From the beginning of 2022, Ocean Unite will embark on a new phase of its mission and shift its full focus to the challenge of working with the finance sector to drive investment into building coastal and ocean resilience. To reflect this evolution we will fold into the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance.

This is an exciting moment to celebrate the achievements of our first six years of ocean action, recognize our amazing partners and supporters and look ahead to emerging opportunities to make an impact.

Strongly protecting at least 30 percent of the ocean by 2030 (30×30) has been Ocean Unite’s rallying call to action ever since our launch in 2015. In that time, we are proud to have worked with partners to help strongly protect well over 5 million km2 of ocean around the globe and establish critical alliances to spur 30×30 action. The 30×30 global movement has grown from strength to strength, with more than 100 countries committed to 30×30 and billions of dollars pledged to achieving this goal. We have also helped lead the design, incubation and development of two important emerging ocean networks: RISE UP and the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA).

A strategic evaluation of the organization earlier this year made it clear that Ocean Unite’s biggest programmatic opportunity is in the areas of coastal resilience and developing innovative financial models to address ocean risk. Given the significant potential for impact as well as our unique experience in this field, we are excited to channel all our energies into this important mission for our next chapter. To spearhead this evolution, Ocean Unite President and CEO Karen Sack is stepping into the role of Executive Director of ORRAA, and Ocean Unite will transfer elements of our 30×30 work to partner organizations in early 2022 to facilitate their continued success.

We are incredibly proud of how Ocean Unite has helped unify, amplify and engage voices on the need to fully protect at least 30 percent of the ocean, and are excited to embark on this new chapter and name for our organization to focus on the critical challenge of addressing ocean risk and building the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to the impacts of climate change.

We are deeply indebted to our founders and additional funders, ocean peers and partners, thought leaders, the Ocean Unite board of directors and team, and disruptive energizers who joined along the way. We are especially grateful to the Ocean Unite Network leaders from around the world who used their voices and connections to drive change. We look forward to continuing to work with many of you to do all we can together to address ocean risk and build resilience for vulnerable coastal communities in the face of the growing climate and biodiversity crises.

PROJECTS

Please continue to support the work of the following organizations:

ORRAA

The Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance is a multi-sector collaboration between governments, financial institutions, the insurance industry, environmental organisations and stakeholders from the Global South.

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RISE UP

The RISE UP Blue Call to Action is a joint call by civil society, fisherfolk, Indigenous peoples and philanthropic organisations to governments and corporations to join us and agree to bold action to safeguard the ocean.

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#30x30

30x30 is a call to action to safeguard at least 30% of the world's ocean by 2030 through a network of highly protected marine areas where no destructive or extractive activities like fishing or mining can take place.

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Antarctica2020

Antarctica2020 is a group of influencers from the world of sport, politics, business, media and science, that are building support to protect Antarctica’s Southern Ocean and guarantee the greatest act of ocean protection in history.

LEARN MORE

Caribbean30x30

The Caribbean is home to one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, but it is in crisis and time is running out to save it. Caribbean 30X30 is calling on the region’s governments to protect at least 30% of it from destructive activities by 2030 (30x30). We need to act now to ensure its long-term health.

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Past Stories

Read past versions of our newsletter: The Navigator!

READ MORE

“Dear President Biden: Don’t Forget the Ocean on Earth Day!”

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Building ocean resilience through innovation, investment and entrepreneurship

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The Economist Group’s Eighth Annual World Ocean Summit Virtual Week March 1st – 5th 2021

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The largest ocean protection act in history

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VIEW MORE BLOGS

Ocean Unite embarks on a new phase of its mission

Ocean Unite is embarking on a new phase of its mission and shifting its focus to the challenge of building coastal resilience. To reflect this evolution, we are folding into the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance in early 2022.

This is an exciting moment to celebrate the achievements of our first six years of ocean action, recognize our amazing partners and supporters and look ahead to emerging opportunities to make an impact.

Strongly protecting at least 30 percent of the ocean by 2030 (30×30) has been Ocean Unite’s rallying call to action ever since our launch in 2015. In that time, we are proud to have worked with partners to help strongly protect well over 5 million km2 of ocean around the globe and establish critical alliances to spur 30×30 action. The 30×30 global movement has grown from strength to strength, with more than 100 countries committed to 30×30 and billions of dollars pledged to achieving this goal. We have also helped lead the design, incubation and development of two important emerging ocean networks: RISE UP and the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA).

A strategic evaluation of the organization earlier this year made it clear that Ocean Unite’s biggest programmatic opportunity is in the areas of coastal resilience and developing innovative financial models to address ocean risk. Given the significant potential for impact as well as our unique experience in this field, we are excited to channel all our energies into this important mission for our next chapter. To spearhead this evolution, Ocean Unite President and CEO Karen Sack is stepping into the role of Executive Director of ORRAA, and Ocean Unite will transfer elements of our 30×30 work to partner organizations in early 2022 to facilitate their continued success.

We are incredibly proud of how Ocean Unite has helped unify, amplify and engage voices on the need to fully protect at least 30 percent of the ocean, and are excited to embark on this new chapter and name for our organization to focus on the critical challenge of addressing ocean risk and building the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to the impacts of climate change.

We are deeply indebted to our founders and additional funders, ocean peers and partners, thought leaders, the Ocean Unite board of directors and team, and disruptive energizers who joined along the way. We are especially grateful to the Ocean Unite Network leaders from around the world who used their voices and connections to drive change. We look forward to continuing to work with many of you to do all we can together to address ocean risk and build resilience for vulnerable coastal communities in the face of the growing climate and biodiversity crises.

©️ Copyright 2022 Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA). All rights reserved. ORRAA is a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation, organized under the laws of the District of Columbia, USA, EIN: 83-3580499.

Safiya Sawney is currently the Caribbean Policy Lead for Ocean Unite. Most recently she was the Ocean and Climate Policy Advisor to the Mission of the Republic of Palau to the United Nations representing the President of Palau at the High-Level Panel for the Sustainable Ocean Economy and leading Palau’s engagement at the UN Secretary General’s 2019 Climate Action Summit. Safiya was also the project coordinator for the UN Office of Project Services providing strategic support towards the 2020 Our Oceans Conference.

Formerly, Safiya was the lead policy advisor on a Blue Economy partnership platform between the Governments of the Netherlands and Grenada with support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Safiya has fostered many innovative partnerships to spur action on ocean plastics and environmental awareness for small islands states including partnerships with Parley for the Ocean and Adidas, PangeaSeed, UN Environment, United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and others.

Safiya has provided policy support to Climate Analytics Inc. on Caribbean climate strategies, was the deputy coordinator for the Caribbean team that executed the 2013 Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI) Summit in collaboration with Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Unite and The Nature Conservancy and served as technical advisor to Alliance of Small Island Developing States at the UN.

Jon Bassford, CAE, JD, MBA is an association and nonprofit operations professional. Jon has worked for c3 to c7 organizations across many different roles and responsibilities but has carved out an expertise as an efficient and effective operations professional. Through his consulting firm Lateral Solutions, Jon leads several organizations as a part-time operations director as well as client work in college student/campus outreach, organizational development, innovation, and strategy. Jon has truly carved out an expertise helping organizations launch and run internal operations in an efficient and effective manner using digital tools.
 
Across his membership and operational roles, Jon has 15 years of experience leading organizations.

Renee brings nearly a decade of internal operations experience to the Ocean Unite team. Prior to joining the team, Renee worked for eight years at The Pew Charitable Trusts where she began as an administrative assistant supporting their Shark, Tuna, and Whale conservation campaigns as well as the Senior Director of International Ocean Conservation. Particularly adept at identifying operational issues and developing methods to solve them, Renee moved into an operations role working across Pew’s international Ocean conservation projects, then all their environment conservation projects, and later the breadth of Pew’s programmatic work. She has degrees from California State University, San Bernardino, and Temple University in Philadelphia, and recently relocated from Washington, DC, to the California coast. As hard as this team works to protect our magnificent Ocean, Renee is the only person on the team who lives at the beach and relishes in enjoying the beauty of the Ocean every day.

Brittney is Ocean Unite’s digital and social media manager and is a consultant for Communications Inc. Comms Inc. is an agency which works with the not-for-profit sector, with a particular specialism in the ocean and wider environment. They are well known within the international ocean community and enjoy the trust of, and a working relationship with, most of the large international environmental NGOs and coalitions. Recognised for their ability to deliver fast, cost-effective and productive communications and campaigning, they are particularly valued for their strategic contribution based on a sound understanding of the issues, the political landscape within which the issues exist and a creative approach to bringing about change. (www.communicationsinc.co.uk)

One of the principals of Communications Inc., Sophie has nearly 20 years of experience in strategic communications. Comms Inc., is an agency which works with the not for profit sector, with a particular specialism in the ocean and wider environment. They are well known within the international ocean community and enjoy the trust of, and a working relationship with, most of the large international environmental NGOs and coalitions. Recognised for their ability to deliver fast, cost-effective and productive communications and campaigning, they are particularly valued for their strategic contribution based on a sound understanding of the issues, the political landscape within which the issues exist and a creative approach to bringing about change (www.communicationsinc.co.uk).

Nathalie has almost two decades of experience working in environmental advocacy. She worked for over 15 years for Greenpeace International, focusing mainly on biodiversity issues. For many years she worked as Senior Oceans Political Advisor focusing on international ocean governance and marine conservation. More recently she was the deputy director of the Political and Business Unit. She has wide experience of attending and leading delegations at international environmental meetings, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, and ocean-related negotiations at the UN General Assembly. When asked why she feels strongly about protecting the ocean, she says that not only is it home to the weirdest and most wonderful creatures on the planet, tomorrow’s life-saving drugs could be found at the bottom of the sea, not to mention the discovery of an anti-wrinkle cream that actually works!

Karen has over 25 years of experience working for international non-governmental organisations on environmental issues around the world with a particular focus on protecting marine biodiversity and building resilience to climate change. In 2015, Sack established Ocean Unite, co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and former Costa Rican President José María Figueres, to engage leadership voices and the business community to accelerate ocean health and resilience. Ocean Unite is committed to helping secure the strong protection of 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030. It has also developed a groundbreaking partnership with the insurance sector to address ocean risk.

She was senior director for international oceans at The Pew Charitable Trusts, where she developed their international oceans program including their ending illegal fishing strategy and initiated and was the managing partner of the Global Ocean Commission. Before that she was head of Greenpeace International’s political and business unit and head of their international oceans programme. In 2004, she was the first person from a non-governmental organization to speak at a regular session of the United Nations General Assembly, where she represented the concerns of over 60 environmental organizations from around the world over the plight of our oceans. Karen is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network. She has master’s degrees in international environmental law and in international political economy.