Ireland’s commitment to strategic partnership with Small Island Developing States (SIDS), through Our Shared Ocean was highlighted throughout the UN Ocean Decade Conference, which took place in Barcelona last week.

In her opening remarks to the Conference, UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay thanked Ireland for its overall contribution to Small Island Developing States and the growing impact of the Our Shared Ocean Programme within the Ocean Decade in reference to the co-creation of a training course for Caribbean (SIDS) that will focus on the principle Co-Design.

In the closing plenary session, Director of Policy Innovation and Research Support Services at the Marine Institute, Niall McDonough addressed delegates to introduce the Programme and to pledge further commitments to SIDS in support of existing project teams and initiatives.

During the closing session of the conference, Vidar Helgesen, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, unveiled the Barcelona Statement, a crucial roadmap for the coming years which identifies the areas where ocean solutions must be accelerated. He highlighted Our Shared Ocean’s pledge of additional funding through Irish Aid & the Marine Institute, as one of the major commitments of the Barcelona Statement, which places an emphasis on cross-cutting issues that must be addressed to ensure the success of the Ocean Decade.

In the closing plenary session of the the UN Ocean Decade Conference, Director of Policy Innovation and Research Support Services at the Marine Institute, Niall McDonough addressed delegates to introduce the Programme and to pledge further commitments to SIDS in support of existing project teams and initiatives

Through Ireland’s development cooperation programme, Irish Aid, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Marine Institute have established ‘Our Shared Ocean’ to support research, knowledge exchange and capacity building in partnership with SIDS. The programme will run until December 2026 with a total investment of €3.8 million funded by the DFA, and administered by the Marine Institute.

Our Shared Ocean will establish and grow research partnerships between Irish institutions and international counterparts, providing research and technical support to assist eligible SIDS in addressing specific ocean and climate-related challenges within one of three thematic pillars:

• Oceans & Climate Action
• Inclusive and Sustainable Blue Economy
• Marine Policy & Ocean Governance

Our Shared Ocean was endorsed as a Decade Action in 2023 and has worked in collaboration with the Ocean Decade team since to develop an online training course in the principles of Co-Design with Caribbean partners. Co-Design is often highlighted as a key barrier to SIDS accessing international developmental Aid.

Key announcements at the UN Ocean Decade Conference

Our Shared Ocean has consistently endeavoured to remove such barriers including, increased eligibility of SIDS nations and Directly Funding projects within SIDS institutions.

While attending the conference, the Our Shared Ocean team co-hosted an event on ‘Co-Design within the Ocean Decade’ to highlight the importance of Co-Design in developing effective solutions to critical ocean and environmental challenges.

The Ocean Race has joined forces with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) to help increase understanding of the ocean and inspire action to protect it.

Their new partnership hopes to contribute to global ocean action in what is set to be a significant year for the seas — starting with the One Ocean Summit in Brest, France which starts today (Wednesday 9 February) and aims to increase international action and drive tangible commitments.

The new collaboration combines The Ocean Race’s experience of the seas, from nearly 50 years of around-the-world racing, with IOC-UNESCO’s leadership in ocean science and sustainable ocean management.

It will use the race’s global platform to raise awareness of the impact that people are having on the ocean and the vital role that it plays in our lives.

As an ‘Impact Collaborator’, IOC-UNESCO will work with The Ocean Race on its science programme which gathers data about the state of the marine environment, including in remote parts of the ocean that are largely inaccessible to research vessels.

The partners will work together to ensure the data collected by the sailing teams helps to advance ocean research with the support of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), which is now in its second year.

Data will contribute to the IOC-UNESCO-led Global Ocean Observing System and other organisations who are tracking key ocean threats, such as marine debris, microplastics and acidification — a key indicator of climate change.

Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary of IOC-UNESCO, said: “Creating the ocean we want by 2030 – an ocean that is healthy, resilient, sustainable, safe, and inspiring – is the central objective of the UN Ocean Decade, and from the start it has been clear that we need to broadly partner across science, government, philanthropy and civil society to achieve that.

“Since 2015 we have been in partnership with the sailing world through the IMOCA Class, and I think our new partnership with The Ocean Race demonstrates this community’s growing commitment to understanding and protecting the ocean.”

The Relay4Nature baton on route to One Ocean Summit in Brest, France onboard Alan Roura Racing | Credit: Austin Wong/The Ocean Race

IOC-UNESCO will also be involved in The Ocean Race Summits, which bring together global decision-makers to help to drive new and improved policies to protect and govern the ocean, and will help to amplify The Ocean Race’s Learning programme, which teaches children about the importance of the seas.

During the next round-the-world race, which starts in January 2023, the partners will engage children in the eight Race Villages where ocean health will be a central theme.

Richard Brisius, race chairman at The Ocean Race, said: “The Ocean Race and IOC-UNESCO share a common goal of raising awareness of the vital role that the ocean plays in sustaining all life on Earth. Only by growing understanding of our blue planet can we drive greater action to protect it.

“We share the same values as the IOC and by combining their expertise in ocean science and our global platform we can inspire audiences — like the sailing community, sports industry, businesses, host cities, governments, fans and sponsors — to make change that supports a healthy, thriving ocean.”

The collaboration builds on the growing relationship between the two organisations, which has included Dr Ryabinin speaking at The Ocean Race Summit in The Hague in 2020 and the endorsement of several of The Ocean Race’s activities by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

The UN Decade is a global movement to unlock the knowledge needed to reverse the cycle of decline in ocean health and create improved conditions for sustainable development of the ocean.

Partnerships are a key element of The Ocean Race’s award-winning ‘Racing with Purpose’ sustainability programme, which brings together a range of tangible ways that the race can have a positive impact on the marine environment.

Working with 11th Hour Racing — founding partner of the Racing with Purpose programme and a Premier Partner of The Ocean Race — the race organisers are holding high-level summits to drive global decision-makers to create policies to protect and govern the ocean, contributing vital data about the state of the seas to leading scientific organisations, equipping children with the knowledge to help the ocean and much more.