US welcomes Greece announcement to host ocean conference

The United States has welcomed Greece’s announcement that it will host the ninth Our Ocean Conference in 2024.

Our Ocean Conferences bring together governments and non-state actors – including private-sector, philanthropic, academic, and non-governmental representatives – to make concrete commitments to protect ocean health and security. Since the Our Ocean Conferences began in 2014, they have reportedly resulted in more than 1,800 commitments worth nearly $108 billion.

“A healthy ocean is essential for the health and prosperity of human civilization. The ocean regulates our climate and weather, generates approximately half of the planet’s oxygen, and provides food and livelihoods for billions of people,” the US State Department said in a statement.

“Yet the ocean is under threat. Greenhouse gas emissions are changing ocean chemistry, undermining ecosystems, and impairing the ocean’s regulatory functions,” it said.  

“Meanwhile, other human activities, such as overfishing and plastic pollution, are causing potentially irrevocable harm to the ocean’s flora and fauna,” it said.

Panama will host the eighth Our Ocean Conference in 2023.