On May 18-21, Scripps Oceanography hosted the second biannual Ocean Visions Summit. The Summit’s theme was Towards a Global Ecosystem for Ocean Solutions and included participation from satellite campuses around the world, including Australia, Europe, and Africa, with attendees from over 80 countries. The sessions explored carbon sequestration, coastal flooding, human health and the ocean, marine circular bioeconomy, innovation for ocean solutions, and more.
The Center co-organized the session on “Equitable Solutions for Coastal Inundations and Sea Level Rise”, with panelists from local and federal government agencies, insurance, industry, and academia. Together we explored how experts across sectors can work with one another and coastal communities to develop adaptations to address coastal flooding, inundations, and sea-level rise. These coastal hazards threaten our infrastructure, economies, ecosystems, communities, and cultures and adapting to these threats will require a holistic, coordinated, multi-sector approach.
Building on the Ocean Visions coastal solutions scoping workshops, this session convened potential United States task force members from a wide range of sectors towards establishing a national pilot program to implement a “Shared Roadmap for Equitable Coastal Solutions to Climate”. Coastal community leaders met with breakout groups to discuss their most pressing needs, and participants helped to develop an agenda with priority actions for the task force and a vision for an adaptable coast. You can watch the session here.