Further information on the theme is available at: https://one-ocean-science-2025.org/programme/themes.html#T3

Further information on the theme is available at: https://one-ocean-science-2025.org/programme/themes.html#T3

Further information on the theme is available at: https://one-ocean-science-2025.org/programme/themes.html#T3

Further information on the theme is available at: https://one-ocean-science-2025.org/programme/themes.html#T3

Further information on the theme is available at: https://one-ocean-science-2025.org/programme/themes.html#T3

Further information on the theme is available at: https://one-ocean-science-2025.org/programme/themes.html#T3

Further information on the theme is available at: https://one-ocean-science-2025.org/programme/themes.html#T3

Further information on the theme is available at: https://one-ocean-science-2025.org/programme/themes.html#T3

“30x30” - the goal to protect 30% of the land and sea by 2030 - has focused largely on permanent or long-term protection. This is based partly on studies linking marine protected area effectiveness to old age, as well pragmatic policy concerns. However, as coastal communities relying on fisheries for their livelihoods seek to find ways to balance conservation and livelihood outcomes, many forms of spatial fisheries management - especially traditional and indigenous management - rely on impermanence, including periodic and rotational protection, as well as protected areas that expire after a period of time. Could and should temporary protection count towards 30x30? The international “TEMPO” research team, a 5-year partnership between four universities and two community partner organizations in Mexico and French Polynesia, brings together several lines of evidence to speak to this question. In this Town Hall, the TEMPO team presents novel results from several scales of social-ecological analysis, and we critically discuss our findings with external experts to bring concrete lessons for ocean policymakers. The novel research we present and synthesize includes a global systematic review of temporary protection; fisheries and social-science data collection across 50+ cases of temporary protection in Mexico and French Polynesia; and in-depth ethnographic and participatory ecological data from six sites in Mexico and French Polynesia. We analyse these compelling, contradictory, and contextualized data into four main arguments: (1) there are diverse ways to include time with spatial management; (2) adding time to marine spatial management increases climate-adaptive policy options and potential for institutional fit; (3) temporary closures frequently increase equity and justice; and (4) periodic harvest tends to deplete ecological benefits that have accrued, but support long-term buy-in into ecological care. Our Town Hall includes several speed-talks from the TEMPO team (30 minutes), followed by a lively round table discussion of policy lessons (30 minutes). The round table discussion will be open to questions and commentary from the audience and we invite attendees to share experiences from cases of temporary closures. This Town Hall will be an opportunity to advance global dialogues on temporary marine spatial management.

Blue tourism holds significant potential to drive sustainable development, protect marine ecosystems, and support local livelihoods. However, poorly managed tourism can strain fragile ecosystems and deepen socio-economic inequalities. Among its most pressing challenges is overtourism, which places pressure on oceans, leading to pollution, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem degradation. Particularly, the rapid and often unregulated growth of cruise tourism stands out. Concentrating large numbers of visitors in ecologically sensitive areas, cruise tourism exacerbates these impacts, often offering limited benefits to local communities. This event aims to take stock of the scientific literature on the impacts of tourism on society and environment, and foster dialogue on policy pathways towards sustainability. Tourism is a large and rapidly growing ocean economy sector with large impacts on coastal ecosystem services including small scale fisheries. Can it be turned into a driver of restoration and sustainability?
Participants from diverse coastal regions (e.g. Mediterranean, Europe, Caribbean, Western Indian Ocean) will explore research insights and sustainable practices, emphasising the need to strengthen connections between science, policy, and practice. A core objective is to align scientific insights with policymaking and practical actions. Science offers critical evidence to understand tourism's impacts and design sustainable frameworks, yet its integration into policy is often limited. By convening researchers, policymakers, industry leaders, and civil society representatives, this event provides a platform to inform actionable solutions. Themes will include mitigating cruise tourism's socio-environmental impacts and advancing governance models that balance economic growth with ecosystem preservation. Interactive presentations and panel discussions will enable stakeholders to share experiences, identify commonalities, and develop cross-regional solutions. Participants will highlight best practices and propose innovative approaches to enhance decision-making, creating a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient blue tourism sector.
This event’s value lies in catalysing collaborations, fostering partnerships, and generating actionable recommendations. A policy brief will translate discussions into practical guidelines, promoting stronger connections between research, policies, and practices. By advancing this critical dialogue, the event offers a unique opportunity for stakeholders to co-create solutions that balance economic development, environmental preservation, and community well-being.

GlobalHAB is an international programme sponsored jointly by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. The GlobalHAB mission is to improve understanding and prediction of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in aquatic ecosystems, and management and mitigation of their impacts. Over two decades, the scientific steering committee of GlobalHAB (and formerly GEOHAB) has rallied global attention around the need for rigorous inquiry into the dynamics, ecophysiology (including toxicology), and environmental drivers of HABs. These scientific advances are now poised to push the envelope on solutions for societal benefit, spawning the newly endorsed UN Decade Programme HAB-Solutions (HAB-S), which aims to provide novel and transformational science-based solutions for sustainable management and use of marine resources and ecosystem services affected by HABs in a changing world. HAB-S initiatives include 1) Preventing, controlling & mitigating HAB events (PCM), 2) Advancing HAB observing tools and technologies, 3) Making HAB data equitable and accessible, and 4) Improving HAB literacy. HAB-S will engage stakeholders to ensure region- and HAB-specific research products (e.g., early warning systems, data portals, and information products) are equitable and globally accessible to users according to FAIR and CARE data sovereignty principles. Participatory research, co-design, and co-development are recurring themes across HAB-S initiatives. This Town Hall will bring together a panel of leaders to discuss a holistic vision for tackling wicked problems forcing rapid change in the global ocean and contributing to a rise in the geographical expanse, toxicity, and ecosystem and societal impacts of HABs.

The primary challenge in supporting enhanced and sustainable uses of marine ecosystems is to enable current and future growth in the blue economy while promoting the associated development of coastal livelihoods and fully considering the need for ecosystem protection. This challenge explicitly involves managing human impacts on the earth's marine and coastal systems, while also managing the feedback on coastal communities, industries, stakeholders, and civil society.

Addressing this challenge requires moving beyond the traditional areas of research that have been supporting ocean policy for decades, to develop the integrated evaluation of marine socio-ecological systems. Understanding these complex systems is a challenging new area of research that requires multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. Such an integrated approach to marine systems is relatively new, as previous research efforts have often dealt primarily with single sectors.

The session will focus on recent ICES and PICES progress in response to the needs of their member science communities to address this challenge. Catalysed by the UN Decade, this has in particular led to the PICES/ICES initiative SmartNet, which aims to develop integrated assessment and integrated management approaches to support sustainable multiple ocean uses. Emphasis will be on the institutional, methodological and empirical challenges involved in developing such integrated approaches, and lessons learned to inform the future evolution of marine science and ocean policy. A key element will be the integration of wider-based knowledge systems than heretofore, including rights- and stake-holders, indigenous peoples, local ecological knowledge and civil society perspectives on ocean goods and services.

Given the crosscutting nature of its focus, the session will be of broad relevance to the OOCS themes. However, it will centrally inform topics identified under themes 3 (“Protection and restoration of marine and coastal ecosystems to ensure sustainable and equitable management”), 7 (“Sustainability, equitability, and safety of ocean-based food systems” and 10 (“Vibrant science to inform and support ocean action”) of the OOSC.

As climate change continues to have profound impacts on the oceans, there is an urgent need for solutions and reliable indicators to assess these effects on marine ecosystems and extreme events. The ocean plays a pivotal role in regulating the Earth’s climate, absorbing over 90% of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions and acting as a significant carbon sink. Consequently, understanding the changes in oceanic conditions is crucial not only for monitoring the health of marine ecosystems but also for forecasting and mitigating extreme events such as marine heatwaves, tropical cyclones, and coastal flooding.
Data from the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) underpins our understanding of the ocean’s role in climate regulation, ecosystem dynamics, weather and extreme events. Yet, in most countries, this critical infrastructure does not have identified and sustained funding support and collectively we face critical gaps in observational coverage—particularly in areas that we need to navigate a sustainable future, biodiversity, carbon, arctic, and deep-sea regions. A robust and sustainable global ocean observing system provides critical earth information for accurate climate modelling, disaster preparedness, and sustainable, evidence-based decision-making. Combining satellite technologies with in-situ observations, forecast models, and digital twins of the ocean, as an integrated support system that delivers essential data services for governments worldwide is also needed, however long-term investment into such collaboration falls short of what is required. Leveraging initiatives such as the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), and World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) offers opportunities to clearly identify and close these gaps.
The growing societal demand for comprehensive ocean information across diverse economic sectors highlights the need for a shift from sector-specific observation systems to holistic approaches. These new approaches should incorporate economic and societal parameters alongside traditional environmental data, such as ocean temperature, sea level, and carbon content.
A crucial element of this transition will be to include cost effeecitve and innovative technologies, such as autonomous sensors and platforms, citizen science, and participatory observation systems. These components are essential to enhance coverage in under-observed regions and provide real-time data for early-warning systems aimed at mitigating the risks of extreme ocean and weather events.

The design, coordination, and implementation of a comprehensive observing system—one that integrates multiple stakeholders, disciplines, and themes—require a thoughtful and strategic approach.
This involves:
Outlining a roadmap for expanding and consolidating existing observation frameworks to include a focus on extreme events and their impacts.
Incorporating observatories that monitor ecosystems, societal impacts, and economic parameters, alongside traditional physical variables, to capture the multifaceted nature of climate-driven changes.
Ensuring the feasibility and efficient implementation of the proposed system, by aligning resources and fostering collaboration between governmental agencies, research institutions, and civil society.
Identifying priority areas for pilot systems and demonstrators to validate methodologies, ensure scalability, and refine predictive models that link ocean dynamics to atmospheric and socio-economic extremes.

UNEP, FAO, and UNDP, in close consultation with DOALOS - the interim secretariat of the BBNJ Agreement, are collaborating to support countries toward ratification of the BBNJ Agreement. There is strong political momentum towards having, by UNOC-3, the 60 ratifications required for the Agreement to enter into force.

The BBNJ Agreement is grounded in science, with the use of the best available scientific information and the use of relevant traditional knowledge being among its general principles and approaches. Essential to the successful implementation of the Agreement is therefore to have a multidisciplinary, inclusive and accessible science-base that leaves no one behind and is foundational to the value proposition for countries.

In an ABNJ context natural resources have characteristics of global public goods as they happen to be non-excludable and non-rival, their conservation and sustainable use requires international cooperation. A successful implementation of the BBNJ Agreement will likely require mainstreaming biodiversity, its values and ecosystem services into decision-making. It will also require appropriate financing, including innovative financing partnerships and incentivising private-sector financial contributions.

Scientific knowledge is fundamental in the processes under the Agreement relating to the establishment of area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, and to environmental impact assessments. Promoting marine scientific research and marine technology development and transfer are key objectives of the Agreement in relation to marine genetic resources, including the fair and equitable sharing of benefits, and to capacity-building. A Scientific and Technical Body is established.

The session aims to bring experiences from states parties to Regional Seas Conventions and/or members of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, concerning scientific knowledge gaps and marine technology challenges on national and regional scales in relation to the Agreement. It will further focus on identifying how to consider relevant socio-economic dimensions in national planning.
Questions to be emphasized will include data and knowledge required from science that are critical to countries, institutions, and relevant societal actors. In that context, the multiple dimensions of ecological connectivity between areas beyond national jurisdiction and areas within national jurisdiction will be addressed, as well as the economic, social and ecosystem benefits arising from the BBNJ Agreement. Innovative public-private partnerships to mobilise financial resources will also be explored.

Questions will be centred around:
What data can be leveraged across related multilateral environmental agreements (e.g. CBD, CMS, CITES, Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans…) and regional fisheries management organizations in support of the BBNJ Agreement?
How can we better understand socio-economic dimensions in ABNJ to inform decision-making for the conservation and sustainable use of BBNJ?
How can science and data, including from the traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, inform the sustainable management of activities in ABNJ, incl. fisheries, shipping and mining, and assist assessing cumulative impacts on marine biodiversity?

The Townhall aims to share latest science, foster dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders in relevant fields and hence to accelerate the ratification of the BBNJ Agreement and inform its future implementation. This includes providing a compelling value proposition of the Agreement for States, in particular the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, geographically disadvantaged States, small island developing States, coastal African States, archipelagic States and developing middle income countries. Experiences will be shared to explore the science showcasing the significance of BBNJ as a contributor to the achievement of global goals and targets on sustainable development, in particular SDG 14, and other goals and commitments related to marine biodiversity and climate change.

Motivation:
Small-scale fisheries (SSF) play a key role in sustaining both marine resources and biodiversity and associated socioeconomic uses, and thereby contributing to the United Nations development targets and goals. This has been demonstrated in recent years through innovative science-based approaches including transdisciplinary and sustainability research. However, data-poor situations in the North and the South hinder evidence-based decisions for ocean governance and equitable management of marine resources. For instance, the effectiveness of coastal marine protected areas and ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ (OECM’s) requires a knowledge base that is often lacking, even though these tools are a crucial part of local to international frameworks, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Similarly, fisheries management relies on the timely production and interpretation of data to respond to internal and external changes in dynamic social-ecological systems.

How, then, can the knowledge base, and in particular the research and systems to build the knowledge base, make a stronger contribution to SSF management and policy frameworks in practice? This question is addressed in the “Which knowledge do we want?” town hall meeting. The aim is to see how more participatory knowledge co-production and knowledge sharing can lead to better governance and greater sustainability of small-scale fisheries and coastal biodiversity – across scales (i.e., at the local, national, and international levels).

Using expertise from throughout the world, the town meeting will be build on the output of the Illuminating Hidden Harvest program (https://www.fao.org/voluntary-guidelines-small-scale-fisheries/ihh/en), the 4th World Small-Scale Fisheries Congress held in South Africa in November 2022 (https://tbtiglobal.net/world-small-scale-fisheries-congress/), the Small-Scale Fisheries Summit held at FAO headquarters in July 2024 (https://ssfhub.org/ssf-summit-2024), and major international initiatives such as the Small-Scale Fisheries Stewardship Project (https://ssf-stewardship.net/), BRIDGES (https://www.bridges-wio.com/) and AABS (https://worldfishcenter.org/aabs) programs.

Target audience:
The town hall meeting will be relevant to fishing organizations, environmental non-government organizations (NGOs), policy makers, and international agencies, as well as researchers interested in a wide diversity of topics related to marine coastal biodiversity and fisheries (e.g., marine protected areas, spatial planning, local livelihoods, fishery value chain, governance, and knowledge systems) and those engaged in problem-solving approaches.

Expected outcomes:
With technical support from FAO, the meeting will provide evidence of the way forward and concrete, national- and international-level actions to bridge the scientific community with those actors, implementing organizations, and funding agencies that are part of and/or support SSF systems and value chains. We expect to produce tentative answers to a set of key questions that can lead to improved policy and practice: How can the ‘right’ forms of knowledge assist in balancing positive and negative interactions between SDG 14 (Life below water) and socially-relevant SDGs in SSF governance and policies? How can global and regional networks support knowledge co-production in marine ecosystems and fisheries? How can SSF and biodiversity knowledge be most effectively shared among stakeholder groups and inform decision-making? What knowledge, and what uses of that knowledge, would promote more equitable distribution of socioeconomic benefits and secure the livelihoods of vulnerable communities? How should data limitations in the global South be addressed in the long-term?

Ocean Vision Legal is pioneering a project to bring together best practices on environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and Rights of Nature to help ensure that human activities respect and preserve the intricate and invaluable ecosystems and species of the Ocean. The United Nations itself has stressed that in order to maintain the quality of life that the Ocean provides to humanity, a change will be required in how we view, manage and use the Ocean. Our template framework is intended to be released prior to UNOC3 and provide a basis for discussions in this workshop.

Rights of Nature, or Ocean Rights requires that the impacts on the rights and intrinsic values of the marine environment are assessed separately from those to human health, sociocultural or economic impacts, even in the absence of the certainty or evidence of risk to individuals. Additionally, according to Ecuador’s Constitutional Court, the use of Nature’s elements “may under no circumstance jeopardise its existence and the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes.” How can these and other obligations under Ocean Rights help inform the development of EIAs?

States have the obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment under Part 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Though quite arguably the most important obligation, it has been largely ignored, in part due to a lack of understanding of what the obligation entails in practice. However, this obligation arguably provides for the application of the highest standards of protection, protection from future damage and maintaining or improving its present condition. What do such obligations mean in the context of developing EIAs?

Likewise, best practices reveal we must work to understand what baseline conditions are, and what “healthy” and “serious or irreversible harm” looks like from an ocean-centric point of view, not just a human dimension. Arguably, this not only requires an ecological and holistic perspective, but an understanding of both the best available science and sufficiency of that information, as well as the inclusion of both western science and Indigenous and traditional knowledge. How do our assessments or metrics for what constitutes significant harm to the marine environment influence the outcomes of EIAs? How can such metrics be defined in order to help ensure the purposes of EIAs, to prevent environmental degradation, are fulfilled? Rather than aiming to prevent ecological harm, can we aim for higher— to ensure the maintenance or improvement of the marine environment's health?

We seek to convene scientists, advocates and policy makers to discuss what best practices exist in ocean governance and how they may be evolved in the context of EIAs. The inputs from this meeting will be the start of a global consultation process that will inform the development of OVL’s evolved EIA framework. This framework has the potential to ensure effective implementation of ocean law and policy, as well as international treaties such as the UNCLOS, CBD and BBNJ Agreement, where EIAs are a central implementation measure for such Conventions.

The session will discuss how research and innovation can accelerate the protection and restoration of the Ocean and the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the High Seas Treaty in particular. It will showcase tried and tested innovative solutions for protecting and restoring marine biodiversity and ecosystems under the EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters and discuss how to promote their uptake and deployment by communities in Europe and beyond. The session will discuss how to better connect communities dependent on healthy ocean with the necessary knowledge and innovative solutions to support them in becoming resilient, climate-neutral and future-proof.

The Ocean is undergoing dramatic changes due to climate change, pollution and the (over)exploitation of marine resources. Advanced ocean monitoring and prediction capabilities are urgently required to sustainably manage the Ocean, protect marine biodiversity and support climate change mitigation and adaptation policies.

The OceanPredict 2024 Symposium « Advancing Ocean Prediction science for societal benefits » (https://www.oceanpredict24.org/), organized by the OceanPredict/ForeSea programme in collaboration with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO-IOC) was held from November 18-22 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The event marked a significant milestone in global ocean prediction science. It brought together 350 on-site participants and attracted 1,500 online registrations from around the world, highlighting its importance within the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030. The symposium reviewed the recent achievements and discussed the main challenges required to advance the development of ocean reanalyses, analyses and prediction capabilities in response to societal needs. The event included sessions centered around ocean predictions from physics, sea ice to biogeochemistry and from global, regional to coastal scales. It covered new developments in ocean predictions (observations, modeling, data assimilation, ensemble approaches, machine learning / AI, digital twins, etc.), ocean prediction systems and services, and user applications and societal benefits.

This town hall meeting will build on the OP’24 symposium outcomes and the activities of the relevant UN Decade programmes and the OceanPrediction UN Decade Collaborative Center to present a call for action for an international mobilization to advance ocean prediction capabilities in response to societal needs.

The one-hour session will be organized around a series of talks summarizing OP’24 discussions and outcomes. The session will gather international speakers from a large range of countries and several ECOPs. It will be concluded with the presentation of the call for action.

This session will explore how the growing blue economy requires a strategic rethinking of education, research, and workforce development to address sustainable development challenges. As the blue economy evolves, new professions are emerging at the intersection of marine science, technology, and socio-economic innovation. These roles demand forward-looking training and interdisciplinary research to tackle complex environmental, economic, and societal issues, while strengthening industry connections to ensure practical impact. Key to this transformation is developing skills in areas like ocean monitoring, autonomous marine technologies, and digital tools for data analysis and ecosystem management. These advancements are reshaping how we interact with marine environments, promoting more sustainable practices. Emerging skills in sustainable fishing, tourism, decarbonizing maritime transport, and marine renewable energy are vital for aligning economic growth with environmental preservation. Innovations in climate-neutral fuels, wind propulsion, and nature-based solutions help reduce the ecological footprint of maritime activities while boosting local economies and preserving cultural heritage. To fully seize these opportunities, it’s essential to bridge the gap between academia, education, and industry. Research must align with the needs of the blue economy, ensuring academic insights become practical solutions. Collaborative frameworks involving universities, industry, and policymakers will promote innovation and ensure training programs meet sector demands. This approach will accelerate the development of new technologies and practices, providing students and professionals with real-world experience and industry-relevant skills. The global scale of these challenges underscores the importance of inclusive collaboration, particularly for the Global South. Tailored capacity-building, inclusive partnerships, and technology transfer must ensure blue economy opportunities are accessible to all. Frugal innovation will be critical in developing cost-effective, adaptable technologies that address regional needs, empowering communities worldwide to adopt sustainable practices. By focusing on equitable access and local empowerment, the blue economy can become a driver of global equity and resilience. Meeting these objectives requires reimagining education and training systems. Interdisciplinary Master’s programs, vocational training, and lifelong learning initiatives for students and professionals will equip future workers with the necessary knowledge and skills for blue economy careers. Programs combining environmental science, engineering, economics, and law will produce a workforce capable of managing marine resources, adapting to climate change, and fostering maritime innovation. Research will play a pivotal role in closing knowledge gaps and driving innovation. Key priorities include marine biodiversity conservation, sustainable aquaculture, and technologies for waste reduction and pollution management. These efforts must be integrated into educational frameworks and co-designed with industry to ensure practical relevance. This panel will showcase real-world examples of how education, research, and industry collaboration can generate impactful results. Existing models, such as the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), will demonstrate how cross-sector collaboration fosters sustainability. The session will provide actionable recommendations to guide global efforts toward a sustainable blue economy, emphasizing the importance of integrating education, research, and industry to balance economic growth with environmental responsibility. It calls for collective investment in preparing the next generation of professionals to address the challenges and opportunities for oceans and coastal communities.

In recent years, the critical role the ocean plays in the Earth’s life-support system, as well as its importance for the sustainable development of our societies and economies has been increasingly recognised, and emphasised at the highest political levels. An adequately funded, sustained, and truly global ocean observing system is essential to support informed decision-making, in the context of policy frameworks such as the Paris Climate Agreement, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. It is also critical to the success of global assessments, such as the UN Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects (or “Regular Process”) and the upcoming International Panel for Ocean Sustainability (IPOS).

More than ever, it is critical that the world’s governments prioritise funding of ocean observations and their coordination at the global level, to complete a comprehensive Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS), covering all aspects, and at the granularity required for accurate forecasts. Full planned deployment of GOOS has slowed in the last decade, hampered by fragile long-term funding arrangements. While a global system for measuring physical Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) - and to a lesser extent chemical EOVs- is in place (albeit with geographical gaps and fragile funding), biological and ecosystem observations for monitoring the health of our ocean have yet to be operationalised.

The proposed Town Hall will bring together members of the Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO) - Directors of oceanographic research institutes from around the world- to discuss the urgent need for sustained, global ocean observations to support global policy frameworks and assessments, the current funding landscape, possible new models for sustainable, long-term funding, and the return on investment to be gained from ocean observations and the information they provide in support of sustainable development.

The world coastal zones are suffering numerous hazards of natural and anthropogenic origin. These include climate-related extreme events, sea level rise and ground subsidence, causing temporary and permanent flooding, coastal erosion and retreat, aquifer salinization, loss of biodiversity, etc. With the development of a large variety of advanced sensors aboard satellites, and the growing amount of available data, space-based Earth Observations (EOs) are increasingly being used to better support hazard monitoring, mitigation, adaptation and risk management. The EO datasets provide human society with the benefits of a synoptic view of natural hazards and their associated risks. The purpose of this Town Hall is to bring together scientists and stakeholders from different horizons involved in different aspects of coastal geohazards and their impacts on society and the environment, and exchange about the benefit of using Earth Observation data to monitor coastal changes due to natural phenomena and anthropogenic forcing factors as well as associated impacts on populations, environment and infrastructures. Gaps in knowledge and in observational systems will be identified and perspectives of improvement will be discussed. Another objective is to address opportunities of collaborations between the international scientific community, local research institutes, national and intergovernmental agencies, and the private sector for developing a global effort directed to monitor changes affecting the world coastlines and the associated risks, using a broad variety of space observations -combined with in situ data where available and high-resolution modeling-. Such an ambitious programme would be an invaluable first step towards mitigation and adaptation.

The UN Ocean Decade Programme for Blue Carbon in the Global Ocean (GO-BC), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO) propose to co-host a Townhall Meeting to promote the fundamental values of science (biogeochemistry, ecology, oceanography, etc.) which are increasingly required to deliver the evidence that underpins policy change, supports a just transition, and creates credible and emergent nature-based solutions (and markets for finance) that are necessary to achieve meaningful and lasting ocean solutions.

A science-focused dialogue on blue carbon opportunities and challenges will be particularly timely at OOS2025, demonstrating how blue carbon initiatives can benefit climate, people, and nature.

This Townhall Meeting will bring together leading blue carbon researchers and supports a growing interest in blue carbon science among the UN Ocean community - reflected in a growing number of scientific publications, science-based ocean actions, and the emergent nature restoration markets that are underpinned by blue carbon evidence.

Panelists will be solicited widely to ensure that the dialogue captures and articulates (i) the ethos and value of fundamental scientific research; (ii) the need to support (and fund) blue skies research; (iii) the value of investment in early career researchers as future ocean leaders; (iv) the opportunities and added value of engaging local communities (and youth) as meaningful project research partners; (v) the need for regional knowledge hubs to be established and to share best practice and scientific skills to build in-country capacity and knowledge; and (vi) the growing need for an ocean science community who understand and are prepared to engage with policy makers and others to effect fundamental changes in the management of our seas.

All are welcome (science , media, and policy); refreshments will be provided.