World Ocean Council Engages Ocean Industry and Stakeholders in South Africa

The World Ocean Council (WOC) CEO, Paul Holthus, is spending time in South Africa in February to meet with ocean leadership companies, business organisations and representatives of government ocean agencies and the science and environment communities.

He is attending the Integrated Ocean Management Forum, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Cape Town, 19 February. Forum participants will be able to share and reflect on different experiences with Integrated Oceans Management, explore the role healthy marine and coastal ecosystems can play in Sustainable Development, and explore what it would take to make the next step in Southern Africa towards an integrated oceans management across stakeholders and sectors. The Sustainable Oceans Lab is a global Leadership and Innovation Lab, jointly convened by the German GIZ, Global Leadership Academy and Blue Solutions Initiative. It gathers 30 change agents from government, business and civil society from 17 countries to foster collaboration in addressing ocean sustainable development. This event is open to interested ocean stakeholders, but space is very limited. Interested professionals can contact David Graf to join.

He also has meetings with South African companies and chambers of business between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, from 21-23 February. One goal of the discussions is to further explore and advance the development of a multi-sector ocean industry leadership alliance in South Africa and for the Western Indian Ocean. Companies and organizations interested in meeting with the WOC are invited to contact Paul Holthus directly.

Next in the agenda is participation to the Ocean Business Think Tank, Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber, Port Elizabeth, on 23 February. The Think Tank will provide industry stakeholders, management and governance experts with an opportunity to interact relatively informally in a discussion about the role (actual and potential) of the maritime business sector in ocean management. For more information and to RSVP, contact Peter Myles.

The visits are concluded by the Marine Coastal Management Conference, taking place in Cape Town from 24-25 February.