Martin Koehring - Global Sustainability and Ocean Expert | Charity Board Member | TEDx Speaker | I help create multi-stakeholder partnerships & impactful research on 🌏 Climate 🌏 Nature 🌏 Blue Economy

World Biodiversity Day is celebrated every year in late May to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. To honour this occasion the World Ocean Initiative shines a light on one of the planet’s greatest survivors: the horseshoe crab.

Earth Day, celebrated every year on April 22nd, is dedicated to highlighting the importance of action to protect and restore ecosystems around the world. Ocean ecosystems are vital for a thriving planet. Governments and private-sector investors are increasingly keen to invest in seagrass, mangroves and other important ocean ecosystems that reduce and store CO2 emissions.

I will be a faculty member for the Food & Sustainability Certificate Programme provided by the European Institute for Innovation and Sustainability and starting in May 2021.

Our World Ocean Summit Virtual Week concluded successfully last week. We welcomed more than 8,500 registered participants and more than 6,000 active users on our virtual platform during the week. Here I summarise some key conclusions and observations, from the importance of ocean literacy and nature-based solutions to the need for collaboration and investable innovations.

On November 26th 2020 I presented The Economist Intelligence Unit's Food Sustainability Index as part of a panel discussion on the science of characterising and assessing the transition towards more sustainable food systems.

October 22nd marked World Energy Day. The quest for energy has always been a balancing act between the benefits and costs of creation or extraction, storage, transportation and waste disposal. As populations have grown, humans have searched for new energy sources. Wave, tidal and wind energy are now part of the green energy mix.

In a conversation for Therma's Point 01 podcast I spoke with co-founder Aaron Cohen about how reinvigorating the ocean economy will lead to sustained and equitable economic growth. 

On September 10th I presented the Food Sustainability Index during a webinar on teaching the complexity of food sustainability. The webinar explored how to introduce the FSI EDU toolkit in university curricula.

As part of the Blue Recovery Series, the World Ocean Initiative hosted a webinar on the roles of science, innovation and investment in establishing a sustainable ocean economy in the post-coronavirus period.

On September 8th I will be moderating a session on “A Sustainable Ocean Economy” at the Founders Forum Climate Summit during London Tech Week. I will be joined by a great panel of ocean investment experts.

On 20 August I was interviewed on The Peggy Smedley Show, a leading podcast on digital transformation that averages 115,000 listeners. The discussion revolved around sustainability in the seas, why we need to stop thinking of the economy as linear and why sustainability is a business issue, amongst other items.

On 19 August I spoke about the economics of coral reef ecosystems at an Ocean Exchange webinar. It was great to learn from Sam Teicher of Coral Vita about his company's coral reef restoration projects.

On August 13th I moderated a webinar that brought together the winners of the World Ocean Initiative’s Women and the ocean: Changemakers challenge and their three mentors. The panel discussed the changemakers' vision for the blue economy, outlined the potential impact of their projects and detailed what they expect to gain from the mentorship.

As countries consider how to rebuild their economies after the covid-19 pandemic while also tackling the climate crisis, an immense arena of opportunity lies before them—one where every US$1 invested could yield at least US$5 in returns: the world ocean.

Between 24 and 26 July 2020 I presented about ocean sustainability at the 15th Annual Green Economics Institute Conference.

Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution. To mark this occasion, the World Ocean Initiative is highlighting some of our recent coverage on tackling marine plastic pollution.

In a guest article for Innovation News Network I examine how Innovation is crucial to both harness the opportunities a sustainable ocean economy can offer and address the risks that ocean degradation poses. Innovative solutions include ocean energy, the decarbonisation of shipping, aquaculture, ecosystem restoration and ‘blue carbon’, ocean geoengineering, and blue finance.

Recent World Ocean Initiative coverage highlights the need for systemic change, concerted corporate action and international collaboration.

During Capitol Hill Ocean Week 2020, organised by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, I moderated a great plenary panel discussion on the high seas. I was joined by six experts on ocean governance to discuss the prospects for a new high seas treaty.

On World Oceans Day I moderated a great webinar on the importance of ocean investment. The webinar also included the screening of the premiere of a new Economist film featuring Sir David Attenborough and other leading ocean thinkers.