John Bohorquez (Stony Brook/IOCS) attended the 2018 Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, from November 26th to 28th. The conference served as an important precursor to the 2020 Ocean Meeting for topics specific to economic issues pertaining to the ocean, and included over 18,000 attendees and 200 speakers from around the world. While one collective event, the conference was split into the following subforums:

Business & Private Sector Forum
Science & Research Symposium
Governors and Mayors Convention
Civil Society Forum
Side Events

One important focus of the conference was inclusivity of the word “sustainable” as inseparable from the concept of the blue economy. This meant that many business or industry oriented sessions and talks still emphasized the importance of environmental considerations and commitments in all activities that take place on the ocean and along its coastal communities. As such, there were also many sessions that focused on marine conservation, and even investing in the blue economy via conservation. The concept of environmental wellbeing as a central theme within marine economic development is exemplary of the importance of IOCS’s efforts to include economics and finance under its umbrella of research topics in marine conservation.