On 8 June 2022, the Embassy of Portugal in Japan, the Embassy of Kenya in Japan, and the United Nations University will co-organise Worlds of Blue — Tokyo Blue Talk, the flagship Asia event in a series of eight “Blue Talk” seminars held around the world in the run-up to the 2022 United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal.
This English-language event will be held in-person at the United Nations University and online via Zoom webinar.
Advance registration is required. To sign up for the event (online and in-person), please complete the registration form at: https://forms.gle/bNEggKQLnesp74K1A
17:00–17:15
17:15–18:30
Climate change and ocean-related issues are globally transversal, but the particular vulnerabilities of small island developing states (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs) puts them on the front lines of these challenges. Building resilience for SIDS and LDCs would mean incremental access to funding, technology, science and other instruments, which these countries notably lack. But it could be argued that their biophysical and socio-economic constraints could, given adequate resources, be turned into an advantage: many of these states are owners of vast maritime territory, which, if managed in an efficient and sustainable manner, could provide the means for development and growth.
But even if global partnerships have the potential to provide the means — funding, knowledge-sharing, transfer of technology, development of cooperation networks — for building SIDS’ and LDCs’ capacity to respond to the new world order challenges, they could come with their own set of inherent consequences. These impacts would have to be tackled first, to ensure that the resources can be applied to the development of these nations in a sustainable manner, and simultaneously foster symbiotic and balanced relations with cooperation partners.
Panelists
18:30–18:45
18:45–20:00
Climate change and ocean-related issues particularly affect communities with ocean-dependent livelihoods. The globally transversal impact of these issues means that communities are no longer bound to a common geographical location: in a world of global connectivity, these communities can now be shaped around a shared activity or interest, uniting members from all corners of the planet.
Most of these societies already feel, to varying degrees, the impact of climate change in their everyday life: pollution, biodiversity loss, energy access, soil and coastal erosion, and extreme weather add up to the fundamentally uncertain nature of their subsistence. But regardless of their diverse activities or geographic dispersion, the sharing of experiences and global access to relevant data have the potential to give rise to common solutions to similar problems, making the case for open access to research and for an increased interconnectivity at the community level for ocean-related issues.
Panelists
Online via Zoom webinar
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1F Annex Space
United Nations University
53-70, Jingumae 5-chome
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925
Japan