Dieter Janecek, Member of the German Parliament for the Green Party and Coordinator of Maritime Economy, joins The Ocean Embassy to discuss Germany's national strategies in this field.

We discuss what this job as coordinator entails, the importance of the maritime economy within the European Union as well as Dieter's goals in this position. One of the key points on the agenda is the impact of the climate crisis on the maritime economy, and vice versa. We specifically discuss the need for alternative fuels for shipping, port infrastructures and decarbonization of this industry.

Additionally, we discuss how Germany plans to manifest its cutting edge research role in the marine community by turning innovations into profitable climate solutions.

Remember to follow The Ocean Embassy on Steady and support us there, if you can. You also find us on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Cover art: Simon + Anna Madlener. Based on the Spilhaus world projection.

Music and Sound Effects: Lukas Bindel

Mixing: Anna Madlener

#BBNJ #UnitedNations #BBNJtreaty #HighSeasTreaty #biodiversity #environmentalDNA #ocean #climateaction #climatecrisis #unoceandecade #bluecarbon #technology #sciencecommunication #marineconservation #podcast #science #climatescience #technology

Today's guest is Laura Khatib, an ocean advocate, communicator and educator from Lebanon. Laura and I discuss the state of marine science and education in her home country, Lebanon, and more concretely in Byblos, where she currently lives.

As one of the oldest consistently inhabited places on Earth, Byblos is characterized by unique and astonishing marine archeology. Laura tells us about her work as co-founder of the NGO Guardians of the Blue, where she teaches local communities about their heritage in the Lebanese ocean. They also use citizen science methods such as ordinary photography from dives to identify and map Lebanon's marine biodiversity, and even recently discovered a new species in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time.

Remember to follow The Ocean Embassy on Steady and support us there, if you can. You also find us on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Cover art: Simon + Anna Madlener. Based on the Spilhaus world projection.

Music and Sound Effects: Lukas Bindel

Mixing: Anna Madlener

#Lebanon #Byblos #oceanliteracy #unoceandecade #ECOP #BBNJ #UnitedNations #BBNJtreaty #HighSeasTreaty #biodiversity #environmentalDNA #ocean #climateaction #climatecrisis #unoceandecade #bluecarbon #technology #sciencecommunication #marineconservation #podcast #science #climatescience #technology

Jeremy Raguain is back!

For those who remember, Jeremy was my first podcast guest. He is a policymaker from the Seychelles, recently finished his fellowship with the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), and served as a Seychellois delegate during the most recent High Seas (BBNJ) treaty negotiations.

The High Seas BBNJ Treaty — Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction — is a new treaty from the United Nations aiming to set the groundwork for international legislation on the high seas, so beyond the exclusive economic zones of nations. These waters, typically, are, as Jeremy says in the episode, "the wild wild wet," where no rules and enforcement applies. The most recent round of negotiations in March 2023 was the final one of several that didn't conclude last year, mostly due to late night disputes around the sharing and benefits from Marine Genetic Resources (MGR).

Marine Genetic Resources, the establishment, monitoring and identification of Marine Protected Areas as well as environmental impact assessments were some of the key topics discussed to be in this treaty. Moreover, a number of principles such as the precautionary principle and the common heritage of humankind were areas of debate but eventually made it into the treaty.

Most media outlets shared the wide success of the BBNJ treaty finally being "achieved" — and unless you are an expert, you will not know all the details and steps that still remain to be done to actually bring this treaty to life. You will also not hear all the details of what is going on inside these conference rooms, how treaties such as these are passed, and who is responsible for what. Jeremy shared a lot of insights during the negotiations on his social media and specifically shed light on the not-so-pretty aspects of discrimination towards countries from the Global South, who are most threatened by oceans in crisis due to the climate crisis.

In this episode, we discuss both details of the treaty's content, what certain words actually mean and what they don't, as well as what it felt like for Jeremy to negotiate at this treaty.

Remember to follow The Ocean Embassy on Steady and support us there, if you can. You also find us on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Cover art: Simon + Anna Madlener. Based on the Spilhaus world projection.

Music and Sound Effects: Lukas Bindel

Mixing: Anna Madlener

#BBNJ #UnitedNations #BBNJtreaty #HighSeasTreaty #biodiversity #environmentalDNA #ocean #climateaction #climatecrisis #unoceandecade #bluecarbon #technology #sciencecommunication #marineconservation #podcast #science #climatescience #technology