Historic Malta conference breaks new ground for protection of the marine environment

October 18, 2007 — Reflecting the new tide in environmental advocacy – in which women and youth are indispensable resources — the Waves of Change will be the first global interactive conference to promote, empower and mobilize these social groups to address issues of climate change, ocean threats and sustainable ocean governance. Culminating in a ten-year campaign (2008-2018), Waves of Change will work to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals, develop public awareness and build constituencies and partnerships that engage all sectors in ocean policy.

“We need to start living an examined life and considering the consequences of our individual and collective actions”, says conference participant Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and founder of EarthEcho. “The oceans are the life support system of the planet yet everything that happens on land eventually impacts the oceans. The choices we make about which products to use, the foods we eat, our consumption patterns, managing our waste — all of these choices impact the ocean.”

“It is the combination of being willing and able that can render the economy and ecology mutually reinforcing,” Joe Borg, member of the European Commission responsible for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs and a participant of the coming Conference, asserted at the 2006 meeting of the Maritime Industries Forum in Oslo.

Sponsored by the International Ocean Institute ( IOI), Waves of Change will feature the world’s women and youth leaders in marine conservation and climate change affairs, with scheduled speakers and attendees including Biliana Cicin-Sain, a leading ocean expert and author; Alexandra Cousteau; and Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a Canadian Inuit activist who was co-nominated with Al Gore for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, for bringing attention to the issues of global warming. In addition to the International Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO), IMarEST, and International Polar Year Secretariat, conference partners and sponsors include the World Ocean Network, NAUSICAA, and Quiksilver Foundation.

Conference highlights include a special keynote address by a Head of State; The Youth Ocean Parliament, where future conservationists will deliberate the future of the marine environment and the best of Underwater Films selected from those presented annually since 1974 at the Antinea Film Festival – a powerful moving gallery of ocean images.

Says IOI’s founder Elizabeth Mann Borghese, “The importance of the world ocean as a potential supplier of goods (food, fiber, genetic resources, metals, minerals) services (trade routes, tourism) energy, and as a repository of national, regional, and global security cannot be overstated.

“…Above all, however, the world ocean is an essential part of the biosphere; it is a crucial factor in the carbon cycle and a determinant of the planet’s climate…The ocean’s contribution of “ecosystem services” is very much larger than that of terra firma.”

Strategically scheduled during International Polar Year (a scientific campaign that is trying to build awareness about Polar Regions and arctic threats); the Waves of Change conference will also consider the special challenges of the polar region and encourage governments to reconsider a Pacem in Artic Maribus (Peace in the Arctic Seas) convention.

For 31 years, IOI’s flagship conference, Pacem in Maribus, has been held annually across the globe. Originating in Malta as a platform to promote the peaceful and sustainable use of ocean space, the conference also provides a forum against ocean threats and challenges. Through research, debate, deliberations and outreach, the conferences have become internationally respected for advancing ocean sustainability as well as effective ocean governance