13th annual World Ocean Summit

Wednesday 4 March 2026 - Thursday 5 March 2026

Location: Montréal, Canada

This year’s 13th annual World Ocean Summit, 4th – 5th March in Montréal, Canada, comes at a turning point: the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty (BBNJ) has been ratified, the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement is going to reshape seafood supply chains, and new science study led on by PML warns we have breached the planetary boundary on ocean acidification. At the same time, major philanthropic and financial investments are flowing into the ocean economy. The question the summit organiser’s pose is no longer why act, but how.

Hosted by the Economist Impact with Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) an Associate Sponsor this Summit is looking to translate these global milestones into action for business, policy and finance. To facilitate the progress it brings together the widest cross-section of the ocean community from business and finance to government, national and international policy-makers, civil society and academia.

The summit will see PML’s Prof Kerry Howell joining Astrid Schomaker, the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and others on the panel discussing ‘Effective and equitable implementation of “30×30”. Kerry and the panel will explore how marine protected areas (MPAs) be expanded in economically viable ways, both within exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and on the high seas. In addition to what financing, governance and leadership are needed to turn commitments into credible protection.

PML’s Prof Helen Findlay will be speaking on the panel focusing on ‘Unlocking blue carbon’s role in climate finance’ discussing the contributions of blue carbon markets to global climate finance, how nature-based solutions should be valued to reflect their role in climate mitigation and resilience, and the science and governance around marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR).

Whilst PML’s Honorary Fellow Torsten Thiele will discuss the “Ocean Decade’s” next five years on a panel with the Executive Secretary of the UNESCO-IOC and the COP30 Special Envoy for the Ocean, moderated by the Editorial Director of Economist Impact. This to take stock halfway through the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, discuss actions needed to meet the 2030 targets and opportunities to scale up collaborations to help meet these.

Besides the panel discussions our team is looking forward to meeting with the Summit delegates at the PML exhibition stand.

To find out more about the Summit and how to join please visit:

https://events.economist.com/world-ocean-summit/