School of Marine Sciences

Traveler – July 2017

This month’s traveler is Emily Nocito, who was recently in New York City where she, her advisor, and two lab-mates attended The Ocean Conference at the United Nations.

On June 5th, the first ever United Nations conference solely dedicated to the realm of oceans was held at the United Nations Headquarters in NYC. While our environment, as a whole, is a common topic within the UN system, this was the first time the focus was strictly on ocean affairs, ranging from small-scale fisheries and aquaculture, to the high seas. This was partly fueled by the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which work towards ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. Goal 14, commonly called the Oceans goal, calls for the conservation & sustainable use of the world’s oceans, seas and marine resources. Much of this conference was centered around fulfilling the objectives of this goal, such as conservation or mitigation against ocean acidification.

A large number of non-governmental organizations, delegations, governments and academic institutions were there- including some of us from the School of Marine Sciences and the Climate Change Institute. Along with my advisor, Dr. Aaron Strong, and lab-mates Anama Solofa and Anna McGinn, we took to the conference for research and networking. This conference was exceptionally important to my own research, in which I study marine protected areas and climate resilience within international waters. To be able to connect with people from all around the world -and interview them- was an amazing experience.

While I was there with SMS, I was also there on behalf of the United Nations Major Group for Children & Youth, the General Assembly mandated space for young people in UN processes. This group currently represents 6000 youth entities in over 170 countries and territories. I had been planning side-events and speeches with my UN MGCY colleagues for the better part of the year, within both their Oceans contingency and the Science-Policy Interface focal point. During the last Partnership Dialogue, MGCY was asked to intervene with our views on the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS. As the person working the closest on UNCLOS, I was asked to speak before the delegates, ministers and panel. This was, admittedly, absolutely terrifying, but it was great

getting the real-world experience of speaking in front of an elite crowd. I might have been the youngest in the room, but for a few minutes, my voice and words dominated the room.

This conference was just the tipping point for the dialogue on oceans at an international level. There have already been calls for another Oceans Conference, and for oceans to have their moment at other UN events, such as the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting in Germany in November of this year. The underlying theme of this conference was collaboration and partnership, so it left me hopeful that countries and organizations will work together on all issues related to the ocean, from pollution to protection.