Category: Conferences

The recent United Nations Ocean Conference brought together ocean leaders from nonprofits, governments, science and industry to discuss science-based solutions to numerous ocean problems. We were thrilled to see so many in the Schmidt Marine Technology Partners community contributing to these conversations and taking steps toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

According to the World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Global Climate 2021 report, the world’s oceans in 2021 grew to their warmest and most acidic levels on record.  Carbon emissions from human activities are causing ocean warming, acidification and oxygen loss, which in turn threaten organisms and ecosystem services, and negatively impact food security, the tourism industry and the economy. At SMTP, we believe innovative technologies can, with adequate support, enable solutions to some of these ocean challenges.

Key highlights for us from the conference included:

• Dr. Asha de Vos, founder and executive director of Oceanswell in Sri Lanka, speaking about the dangers of “parachute science,” and the critical need for equitable partnerships that empower underrepresented communities. Read her op-ed. 
• Brad Ack, executive director of Ocean Visions, announcing the launch of the Ocean Visions-UN Decade Collaborative Center for Ocean-Based Climate Solutions. This effort will catalyze research and development for carbon dioxide removal technologies that build on the ocean’s natural processes
• 1000 Ocean Startups, a coalition of which SMTP is a member, announcing their new Ocean Impact Navigator, a framework designed to simplify, harmonize, and strengthen impact measurement and reporting for the Ocean Impact Innovation ecosystem
• Marie Toussant launching an International Parliamentarian’s Call for a moratorium on deep sea mining, which garnered over 50 signatories from 33 countries at the conference. Among the supporters was the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, who have long been advocates on this topic and are a grantee of the Schmidt Family Foundation
• Our friends at Schmidt Ocean announcing a new partnership with National Geographic
• SMTP teaming up with Katapult Ocean to host a large gathering of ocean startup founders and other innovators to close out the conference. 

At the close of the conference, the UN adopted a landmark declaration to scale up science-based and innovative actions and address the ocean emergency of habitat loss, ocean acidification and ecosystem degradation. Read the story here: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/new-declaration-help-save-our-oceans 

Keeping surfaces clean is a major endeavor, from underwater pipes that are prone to corrosion to sensors and cameras on smart vehicles that need to be kept clear. But the products used to clean these and hundreds of other surfaces around the globe are often made of chemicals known to harm human and environmental health. Maxterial, a Schmidt Marine Technology Partners’ grantee, is changing that, by adding nanoscale surface texture to cleaning products that eliminate the need for harmful chemicals. Learn more from founder Amy Haghdoost, who spoke at the 2019 Schmidt Marine Technology Showcase:

Ninety one percent of plastics aren’t recycled, which means they end up in landfills, in oceans, or incinerated into the atmosphere. BioCellection is addressing this pressing problem with technology that breaks down previously-unrecyclable plastics at the molecular level. And unlike other chemical recycling companies, the team at BioCellection doesn’t just break plastic down—they turn it into chemical building blocks that can be repurposed by other industries. Learn more from founder Miranda Wang, who spoke at the 2019 Schmidt Marine Technology Showcase.

Each year, humans produce 60 million tons of polyester. It starts out in our carpets, shoes, bottles, and clothes, but because it’s not recyclable, most of it ends up in the ocean. Shay Sethi, a Schmidt Marine Technology Partners’ grantee, thinks there’s a better way. In 2015, he co-founded a company called ambercycle that rescues textiles from landfills, extracts the polyester from them, and turns it into fiber to sell to clothing manufacturers—keeping microplastics out of the ocean and offering a sustainable solution for the fashion industry.