The Ocean Race Summit Newport today celebrated Rhode Island becoming the first US state to commit to recognizing the rights of natural communities and ecosystems, and urged for global recognition of the inherent rights of the ocean.
With over 400 miles of coastline, Rhode Island is known as the Ocean State. The resolution also recognizes the importance of Rhode Islands blue economy and the steps the State is taking to protect its biodiversity. With this initiative, Rhode Island has become the first State in the United States to support the recognition of the Rights of Nature and Ocean Rights
The event, held during the stopover of the round-the-world sailing race, gathered together over 150 government, civil society and private sector representatives that explored the power of sports to catalyse positive change and Shore to Sea solutions for ocean health.
In an opening land acknowledgment ceremony, Director of Community Planning and Natural Resources Department and Vice-Chair of the Land & Water Resources Commission of Rhode Islands Narragansett Indian Tribe, Dynalin Spears, said Let us gather in deep connection to the land and the water. It is a sacred and reciprocal relationship.
Janet Coit, Assistant Administrator, NOAA Fisheries, U.S. Department of Commerce, delivered a keynote speech in which she spoke about how climate change is affecting coastal communities and the need to use science to build resilience to these effects, protect nature and promote innovation. Warning of the grave consequences that the world faces she called for aggressive action now.
Addressing the participants, Dan McKee, Governor of Rhode Island, noted: The purpose of the Ocean Race is to shine a spotlight on the importance of nature and the ocean, and you couldnt have picked a better place for that. We believe that The Ocean Race helps the world and it helps the state of RI.
Welcoming attendees to the city, Xay Khamsyvoravong, Mayor of Newport, said: Newports success is directly tied to the health of our ocean, and because of that we are proud to be a voice fighting to protect its health. Newport is Americas most inspiring seaside destination and the U.S. capital of sailing.
The ocean is the foundation of everything we rely upon, from the fresh seafood served at our restaurants, to the waters our sailors win upon, and seas from which our Navy defends democracy and peace around the world. Were fighting for ocean health because it is essential to our existence, he added.
The fourth Ocean Race Summit Newport was held during The Ocean Race 2022-23 stopover in the east coast of the United States.
Few cities in the world are as closely linked to the sport of sailing as Newport, Rhode Island. Founded in 1639, Newport is situated on Aquidneck Island, a 37.8-square-mile island nestled amongst the beautiful scenery on Narragansett Bay New Englands largest estuary and is also bordered to the south and the Sakonnet River to the east. Newport has long been a world-class sailing venue that regularly attracts the worlds best sailors and plays host to the sports top tier competitions, such as the Americas Cup. Today it is also the home of the 11th Hour Racing Team.
The Newport stopover is co-hosted by Sail Newport, Rhode Islands public sailing center, the State of Rhode Island and 11th Hour Racing, the Newport-based global sustainability organisation focused on restoring the health of the planets oceans.
In a video message, Sheldon Whitehouse, United States Senator for Rhode Island, said: We must act on climate now while we still have a little time
The first Newport stopover in The Ocean Race was hosted by Sail Newport during the 201415 edition and the fleet returned again for the 201718 race, making the 202223 Newport stop the citys third consecutive participation in the around-the-world race. The 2015 stopover in Newport marked the birth of the sustainability programme for The Ocean Race, an initiative that subsequently expanded to all stopovers in the 201718 edition, in collaboration with 11th Hour Racing.
Since its opening on 13 May, over 10 000 people have visited Ocean Live Park, the dedicated Race village where visitors can experience the event up-close and learn about how they can contribute to protect the ocean.
In her speech, Wendy Schmidt, Philanthropist, President and Co-Founder of theSchmidt Family Foundation and Schmidt Ocean Institute and Co-Founder of 11th Hour Racing, highlighted: What we are doing together makes a difference, and over less than a decade, we know this is continuous change for the better. While theres still so much to do, but, together, we have changed the conversation.
We are only beginning to discover the world we share with the ocean. One degree at a time, as we say at 11th Hour Racing, we can address the harmful legacy of extractive and polluting industries that have led the world to its current existential crisis, where the Earth is rapidly losing its topsoils and their fertility, the biodiversity of millions of years of evolution, the stable chemistry of its Oceanall of which we depend on for our own survival, she added.
The Ocean Race Summit Newport is part of a series of high-level events to promote the recognition of the inherent rights of the ocean, held in some of the stopover cities that are hosting the teams as they circumnavigate the planet during The Ocean Race 2022-23.
The Ocean Race and partners - including the Government of Cabo Verde and US-based Earth Law Center - are working to give the ocean a voice and gather global support for the adoption of a Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights by 2030.
Representing Earth Law Center, Rachel Bustamante, Ocean Science & Policy Analyst, said: Research increasingly shows that how we value and relate to the Ocean shapes how we manage human activity in the marine environment. As a member of the next generation of ocean advocates, I am encouraged by the emerging pathway of recognizing the Ocean as a living entity with inherent rights. Ocean Rights, she added, is a holistic approach that helps us shift our relationship with the ocean. Rather than just using resources or claiming ownership, we start to see the ocean as one connected ecosystem of our planet that we rely on and care for. So we make decisions that consider what the ocean needs and all the life that the ocean supports. This stems from the Rights of Nature movement and draws on learnings from Indigenous practices, where understandings of mutual dependence with Nature can guide our governance in a more holistic way.
Sports as a catalyst for positive change
In panel 1, Sport as a catalyst for positive change, top athletes discussed how sports can create positive environmental change and shared what they are doing to activate their communities: panellists included one of the sailors competing in The Ocean Race - Charlie Enright, Skipper of 11th Hour Racing Team; Zandile Ndhlovu, South African Ocean Explorer, Founder of Black Mermaid Foundation, 11th Hour Racing Ambassador, alongside Jess Hotter, Freeride World Champion, Protect Our Winters Alliance athlete.
Speaking about his experience sailing from Itaja, Brazil, to his hometown Newport the last few weeks, Enright said: It's great to be home here in Newport. The last leg was nerve-wrecking; however the reception arriving home was exceptional. I said to the team shortly afterward, Remember this feeling it's what we're striving for until the end.
I was part of the first-ever Ocean Summit, and seeing the global impact and international recognition that we have made together as an organisation is truly amazing, he added.
Our team has sustainability at the core of all operations since our inception. We measure and track everything that we do, create or develop and share our findings openly, knowing it will aid and impact other teams and organisations. This is about solutions, finding solutions through a global campaign that can be replicated all around the world, Enright said.
Reflecting on how to improve access to the ocean so that more people care, Zandile Ndhlovu said: Sport is an incredible tool for societal change, the more we are able to create access and representation to niche sports like water facing sports, it allows a greater pool of hands to be on deck to the collective mission. We cannot protect what we do not know, have never seen or experienced.
Referencing the effects of climate change on her home mountains in New Zealand and, as a consequence, in her sport, Freeride World Champion Jess Hotter said: The thing that motivates me the most is people having a healthy space. Water is everything that connects us. Thats why I continue to keep fighting for it.
Simulating climate futures
The event also featured How to Save the World in less than Twenty Minutes, an engaging interactive session using En-ROADS, a global climate simulator that allows you to change different variables to explore the impact that dozens of policiessuch as electrifying transport, pricing carbon, and improving agricultural practicescan have on hundreds of factors like energy prices, temperature, air quality, and sea level rise. Andrew Jones, Executive Director of Climate Interactive, the US-based think tank that builds the simulation models used in the UN, US Congress, and global business, said: "Climate modelers around the world agree: its still possible to create a much better future for the climate, our oceans, and all the lives that depend on both."
Less than a mile across Newport Harbor where the Ocean Summit is being held today, a gauge that has been measuring tides for decades has confirmed that sea level has risen almost a foot in Rhode Island since 1930 and is continuing to rise at an alarming rate. This is a very direct reminder of the growing impacts and threats from climate change, and we need to continue to act now to meet these challenges, said Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Director Terry Gray.
At the same time, despite strong steps already taken, we know we must do more to reduce plastic pollution in our waterways and oceans. We have all walked our beaches and coastlines or gone out on Narragansett Bay and seen the impacts firsthand, and there are deeper impacts to the ecosystem that we dont directly see but are clearly happening. In the Ocean State, climate change and impacts of plastic pollution in our waters are not abstractions, Narragansett Bay-born official said. Theyre real problems and theyre happening now. DEM welcomes The Ocean Race back to the site of its first The Ocean Race Summit, Fort Adams State Park. Were thrilled to participate in this event and listen, learn, share our experiences, and network. And we are excited to lend our voice to the One Blue Voice thats being raised to save the seas.
Richard Brisius, Race Chairman at The Ocean Race, said: The Ocean Race is about people, performance and purpose. Our purpose is to motivate people to do the extraordinary and help to restore Ocean Health. We are focused on driving efforts on international co-operation at scale and working towards a Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights. Since the last Summit here in Newport in 2020 we have made important progress in our influence and achievements within international co-operation and global ocean policies.
Shore-to-sea solutions for ocean health
Panel 2, Shore to sea solutions for ocean health highlighted how all ecosystems are interconnected: what happens on land affects the ocean, from waste to wastewater.
Prof. Maria Rosa, George & Carol Milne Assistant Professor of Biology, Connecticut College, said: "We have a responsibility to be good stewards for our oceans. They provide so many ecosystem services, and have been severely degraded by man-made impacts. We need novel solutions to restore and conserve our marine ecosystems, and make the conservation movement more equitable and accessible to all peoples."
Automation is what gets us in the water; it is data that will keep us there, said Dr Dennis Yance, Co- Founder and CEO at Marauder Robotics, noting the need for real-time seafloor data in order to predict when a shift in happens in an ecosystem so that marine managers can react and do something before these systems collapse.
Lela DeVine, Youth Leadership Council and Board of Directors Member EarthEcho International, stressed the need to put youth at the forefront of these conversations and make them active change-makers. She also stressed: I have consistently emphasised the need for scientists to take an activism lens in their work, and for everyone to understand the intrinsic rights of the ocean that are at stake.
For the first time ever, we have legal mechanisms to create a representative network of ecologically coherent Marine Protected Areas in the High Seas, concluded Dr Elizabeth Mendenhall, Assistant professor at the Department of Marine Affairs, University of Rhode Island,
Ocean Vital Signs Network by WHOI announced at the Summit
To contribute to better understanding of the ocean, Robert S.C. Munier, Vice President for Marine Facilities & Operations Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), announced a new tool for a new era in ocean observation.
Working with partners in philanthropy, industry, and peer institutions around the globe, we aim to establish a large-scale, full-ocean-depth carbon observatory of approximately 1 million square kilometres. This network of networks, which we are calling the Ocean Vital Signs Network (OVSN) will be an ocean internet of things comprised of moorings, underwater robotic vehicles, floats, oceanographic sensors and communication systems. It will provide the rigorous and independent measurement, data, reporting, and verification needed to understand the efficacy of ocean-based climate solutions. It will leverage our strengths in ocean science, engineering and marine operations to illuminate the oceans water column, from the surface to the seafloor and its pivotal role in our planets climateas never before, Munier explained,
Lucy Hunt, Senior Advisor Summits & Learning at The Ocean Race wrapped up the event noting that Rhode Island, The Ocean State, is the best flag bearer to boost national and international recognition of ocean rights. I invite all of you to join us, stand up, speak up and unite for the recognition of the oceans inherent rights.
The Ocean Race - the round-the-world sailing event known as the toughest test of a team in sport - holds these high-level Summits to promote ocean action in some of the stopover cities that will be hosting the teams as they circumnavigate the planet. The Summits discussions are later analysed and explored with experts in international law, policy, diplomacy and ocean science in a series of workshops called the Genova Process (named after the host city of the Grand Finale - the finish port of the Race).
The Ocean Race Summits are a key part of The Ocean Races multi-award winning Racing with Purpose sustainability programme developed in collaboration with 11th Hour Racing, - the Founding Partner of the Racing with Purpose programme and a Premier Partner of The Ocean Race.
The Ocean Race started from Alicante, Spain, on 15 January 2023 and will end in Genova The Grand Finale in June 2023. It consists of seven legs with stopovers in eight cities around the world: Mindelo, Cabo Verde; Cape Town, South Africa; Itaja, Brazil; Newport, Rhode Island, USA; Aarhus, Denmark; and The Hague, The Netherlands.
Leg 5 sees the fleet return to Europe via a double points, 3,500-nautical mile, (4,028-mile/6,482-kilometre) transatlantic dash from Newport, around the top of the British Isles, and into Denmarks second largest city, Aarhus.
Read the original here:
The Ocean Race Summit Newport urges recognition of the inherent ... - The Ocean Race
- High seas drama: Cruise ship bound for Bahamas is diverted to Portland - Mainebiz - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- African Ports Overwhelmed By Red Sea Reroutings - gCaptain - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Party Pirates: A Hilarious Co-op Adventure on the High Seas - Game Is Hard - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Boat sinks in high seas off Malpe, eight fishermen rescued - Public TV English - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Arena's Swept Away is a Dark Tale on the High Seas with Music by Grammy Winners The Avett Brothers - The Zebra - December 16th, 2023 [December 16th, 2023]
- Money Memories: Finances on the high seas - Louisville Public Media - December 16th, 2023 [December 16th, 2023]
- The Arctic Sunrise II Does the ISA have 'enforcement jurisdiction' on the High Seas? - EJIL: Talk! - December 16th, 2023 [December 16th, 2023]
- Severe Weather Impacting Multiple Cruise Ships - Cruise Hive - December 16th, 2023 [December 16th, 2023]
- Taking to the high seas for an up-close look at South Fork Wind - theday.com - December 16th, 2023 [December 16th, 2023]
- High Waves and Rough Seas Forecast for Costa Rica Coasts - The Tico Times - December 16th, 2023 [December 16th, 2023]
- Diesel theft on the high seas: When international cargo ships meet fishing boats in the dead of night - The Indian Express - December 16th, 2023 [December 16th, 2023]
- Meet the couple who've been on more than 200 cruises - and love life on the high seas so much they're selling - Daily Mail - December 16th, 2023 [December 16th, 2023]
- Report to Congress on the U.N. Law of the Sea Convention - USNI ... - USNI News - October 10th, 2023 [October 10th, 2023]
- Simplifying Docker Installation on Linux - Linux Journal - October 10th, 2023 [October 10th, 2023]
- Mallory to Present 'Oceans Apart: Global Governance Approaches to ... - University of Arkansas Newswire - October 10th, 2023 [October 10th, 2023]
- NEWS: A NEW 'Moana' Show Is Coming to the Disney Treasure ... - AllEars.Net - October 10th, 2023 [October 10th, 2023]
- Things to do Oct. 13-19 in the Chicago suburbs, Northwest Indiana - Chicago Tribune - October 10th, 2023 [October 10th, 2023]
- Marine "Biomimetics" Could Be the Blue Economy's Next Big Hit - The Maritime Executive - October 10th, 2023 [October 10th, 2023]
- All eyes on France this Saturday evening - Offaly Independent - October 10th, 2023 [October 10th, 2023]
- 80s-themed cruise: A blast to the past with P&O's high-sea adventure - New Zealand Herald - October 10th, 2023 [October 10th, 2023]
- High seas glamour: what its like to cruise the world with Cunard - Executive Traveller - October 10th, 2023 [October 10th, 2023]
- Warfare MMO Foxhole is adding naval combat complete with huge ... - PC Gamer - October 10th, 2023 [October 10th, 2023]
- One Piece Season 2 Cast: Every Character Expected to Appear - The Direct - October 10th, 2023 [October 10th, 2023]
- The future of Portuguese football: the pitch, the pixels, and the promise - PortuGOAL.net - October 10th, 2023 [October 10th, 2023]
- Typhoon Koinu to cause high winds, rough waters in East Sea - VietNamNet - October 10th, 2023 [October 10th, 2023]
- Governing our seas using core principles of sustainability - Mail and Guardian - September 19th, 2023 [September 19th, 2023]
- Marine Medium Speed Engine Oil Market: Navigating the High Seas ... - Digital Journal - September 19th, 2023 [September 19th, 2023]
- Threats on the high seas and the Pak-Saudi partnership - Arab News Pakistan - September 19th, 2023 [September 19th, 2023]
- China Wants to Burn Out Southeast Asian Navies - Foreign Policy - September 19th, 2023 [September 19th, 2023]
- Sea of Thieves Will Have to Face the Reaper Sooner or Later - GameRant - September 19th, 2023 [September 19th, 2023]
- Whine Wednesdays: Pigs On The High Seas Disgusting Behavior ... - LoyaltyLobby - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Carnival Now Looks in Ship Shape for the High Seas - RealMoney - RealMoney - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Why a new UN treaty to safeguard the high seas matters | Mint - Mint - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Navigating Unfairness on the High Seas: Class Action Waiver Clauses - Lexology - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- High-Seas Search for 39 Crewmembers of Capsized Chinese ... - The Maritime Executive - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- The Wager by David Grann review a rollicking and nuanced history of the high seas - The Guardian - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- A musician from Sauk Prairie sees the world on the high seas - WiscNews - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- How to obtain The Major-General minion in Final Fantasy XIV - Fanbyte - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- ShipRocked 2024: Artist Lineup Revealed For Hard Rockin Adventure On The High Seas! - Icon Vs. Icon - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Local playwright's Hollerwood show premiers at West T. Hill - The ... - Interior Journal - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Meth worth several thousand crores seized from high seas by Indian Navy, NCB - The News Minute - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Salute to Sailors: Navy employs technology and training to ready sailors - WHP Harrisburg - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Max Reveals All of the New Titles Coming to It's Platform In May ... - Just Jared Jr. - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Fisheries: agreement reached on sustainable management of ... - Oceans and fisheries - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- United Arab Emirates formally accepts Agreement on Fisheries ... - WTO Latest News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Murky Tar Balls Reappear on Goa's Golden Beaches | Weather.com - The Weather Channel - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Study: Fishing Subsidies Support Unregulated Distant-Water Fishing - The Maritime Executive - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- The Rings Of Power's Morfydd Clark Hints At 'Quite A Lot Of New ... - Looper - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Chris Armstrong Short Cuts: High Seas Fishing LRB 18 May 2023 - London Review of Books - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- It's Chaos on the High Seas in New 'The Meg 2' Poster - Collider - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- From South Dakota to the high seas, the world gets less transparent - Coda Story - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Stepping up action - Nature.com - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Stricken Shiling tipped to return to Wellington the scene of its ... - Stuff - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Secretary ... - The White House - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Bangladesh: Dangerous Cyclone Mocha expected to make landfall ... - Save the Children International - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Stricken 294-metre Shiling tipped to return to Wellington - the scene ... - Stuff.co.nz - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Sneak peek: Inside Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas, the largest cruise ship ever - The Points Guy - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War' is Celebrating Its 6th ... - Touch Arcade - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Is Deck 1 on a Cruise Ship Bad - Pros and Cons - Cruise Hive - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- US-Iran nuclear struggle is playing out on the high seas - The Telegraph - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Muscle Flexing In South China Sea: Why India-ASEAN War Games Send A Strong Signal To Beijing - ABP Live - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Everybody Has a Story: Surviving rough ride in a smelly ship - The Columbian - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Holiday warning over Majorca party boats loved by Brits as officials vow massive new crackdown... - The US Sun - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Dark waters: how the adventure of a lifetime turned to tragedy - The Guardian - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Guarding our seas and the blue economy - Philstar.com - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Driverless boats, enduring sensors on the special ops maritime menu - Defense News - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- List Of The Cleanest Cruise Ships In The World (2023) - Cruise Mummy - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Sea of Survivors: What if Vampire Survivors and Sea of Thieves had ... - Windows Central - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- All hands on deck as UN meets to protect high seas - February 18th, 2023 [February 18th, 2023]
- 'High Seas' Season 4 Canceled at Netflix Even After Initial Renewal - January 22nd, 2023 [January 22nd, 2023]
- 'High Seas' Netflix Review: Stream It or Skip It? - Decider - January 22nd, 2023 [January 22nd, 2023]
- What Is High Seas Governance? - National Oceanic and Atmospheric ... - January 22nd, 2023 [January 22nd, 2023]
- Move Over Disney: Carnival Is Grooming on the High Seas - December 23rd, 2022 [December 23rd, 2022]
- Get Your First Look at Halloween on the High Seas on the Disney Wish ... - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- Repost: On Armistice Day, Remembering the German High Seas Fleet ... - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- Pirates of High Seas Fest 2022 returns to Panama City Beach - November 19th, 2022 [November 19th, 2022]
- Boo! Get a First Look at Halloween on the High Seas on the Disney Wish - November 19th, 2022 [November 19th, 2022]
- Historically powerful storm to hit Alaska this weekend with seas up ... - October 25th, 2022 [October 25th, 2022]
- Explained: What is the UN High Seas Treaty, and why have countries ... - October 25th, 2022 [October 25th, 2022]
- Terror Hits The High Seas In A Brand-New 1899 Trailer - FANGORIA - October 25th, 2022 [October 25th, 2022]