The Marine Regions Forum 2023 took place in the Western Indian Ocean, hosted by the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Seychelles. The conference brought together 183 global and regional experts from 7th to the 9th November, for three days of interactive discussions and knowledge exchange to enhance cooperation and advance ocean governance in the region and beyond.
The conference theme, “Navigating ocean sustainability in the Western Indian Ocean and beyond“, included a majority of participants (58%) who were working in the Western Indian Ocean region but also allowed for inter-regional exchange by including participants from the EU, both sides of the Atlantic, the Caribbean, Red Sea and South East Asia.
The stakeholders, from government, research, civil society, intergovernmental organisations and industry, amongst others, discussed ocean governance in interactive workshop sessions across four topical strands: tackling the triple planetary crisis; fostering the sustainable blue economy; implementing global goals at the regional level; and regional ocean governance.
You can watch the conference impressions video here. Or read what our various partners and participants have had to say about the conference:
- Regional partners WIOMSA daily blog
- From the partners, Nairobi Convention Secretariat
- Earth Negotiations Bulletin (daily reports and conference summary)
- Co-host Republic of Tanzania
- MeerWissen co-chair of the science to policy and society session
- Participant perspective in Environews Nigeria
- Africa Press on Seychelles participation
The conference was co-financed by the European Union (EU), the Swedish Ministry for Climate and Enterprise and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection and supported by the Nairobi Convention Secretariat. The Marine Regions Forum 2023 was jointly organized by RIFS, IDDRI and TMG – ThinkTank for Sustainability and its regional partners, the Nairobi Convention Secretariat, CORDIO East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) and Empower Ltd.
