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Ocean Unite

LATEST STORIES

The all-women sailing voyage exploring the impact of plastics and toxics in the ocean

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Emily Penn – The last time I was in a plastic accumulation zone – one of the ocean’s five gyres where the world’s waste collects – I was met by clear blue waters.

Emily is a skipper, ocean advocate and artist dedicated to studying environmental challenges in the most remote parts of our planet.

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Are you ready to drink water the London way?

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Fiona Llewellyn—Whether you’re commuting, shopping or sightseeing, touring any city can be a thirsty business.

Fiona is an ocean conservationist with over 12 years’ experience working for environmental NGOs on marine scientific research, policy, practical conservation and campaigns.

In 2016, Fiona and colleagues set up the #OneLess campaign; working to tackle the evident and growing issue of marine plastic pollution by using an iconic item – the single-use plastic water bottle – to challenge our throwaway culture and connect people to the ocean.

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The solution to the ocean crisis? It’s only natural…

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Maria Damanaki  – What comes to mind when you think of the ocean? Maybe you see the planet’s last great wilderness, the wonders of which are still more of a mystery than the surface of the Moon?

Maria Damanaki is the Global Managing Director for the Ocean at The Nature Conservancy. Previously, she served as the European Union Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. Under her leadership, the Commission brought fish populations back to healthier levels—from as few as five sustainable stocks in 2010 to up to 27 today. 

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The UN is moving closer to a meaningful High Seas treaty

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Julian Jackson  –As threats to the ocean rise, negotiators are eager to protect vital biodiversity.

Julian Jackson leads The Pew Charitable Trusts’ efforts in Europe to protect ocean life on the high seas. This work complements the Ocean Unite 30 x 30 campaign – a call to action to safeguard 30 per cent of the world’s ocean by 2030.

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@oceanunite  Twitter Feed

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OceanUnite
oceanuniteOceanUnite@oceanunite·
16h

When scientists hear that 70–90% of #coralreefs could be gone by mid-century, they focus on the 30% that might live. Such places give #ocean ecologists hope that even as the climate warms, corals still have a fighting chance. https://buff.ly/37JO7Gw via @nature #oceanrisk

oceanuniteOceanUnite@oceanunite·
19h

Think you can talk about the severity of #climatechange without including the ocean? Think again! It’s more than 70% of the Earth’s surface, and it’s time its essential services were reflected at the global level. #OneOceanOnePlanet #COP25

karen_sackKaren Sack@karen_sack·
23h

Seychelles ocean/climate commitment to protect 30% of their waters is equivalent to an area the size of Germany #Love30x30

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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.