Reducing “launch costs” for ocean tech will unlock the blue economy, the same way the private space sector led to a boom in orbital observation and communications.

In the last 60 years, natural disasters, driven by climate change, are punishing coastlines at a far greater rate than inland disasters (see graph). Furthermore, the extremes of these events will worsen and may likely increase in frequency. Not to mention the fact that 40% of the world’s population lives in, commutes through, works around, and is otherwise part of this impact zone.

As a scientist I’ve spent decades studying how the air and sea communicate with each other. From a whisper to a roar, their sounds roll and ruffle across the blue expanse. Fruits of their joint labor like tropical cyclones dance across the planet and yield some of the fiercest most bellicose noises. So here I categorize the signals emerging in 2023 and their impact in 2024 as a “whisper” or a “roar.” With so many sounds to make sense of, this is a navigation guide to four areas to tune into...

This year’s COP was a sea change for the growing recognition of the role and speed of innovation in climate tech, and especially in the oceans. Multiple pavilions and a “start-up village” in the Green Zone drew attention to the ways private capital is scaling up broader climate solutions. And the opportunity for public-private financing of truly transformative approaches was at its most palpable. A new $250M Ocean Resilience and Climate Alliance (ORCA) fund was announced, encompassing a portfolio vital to planetary stabilization. In addition, hallway conversations featured the concept of a global “Innovation Fund” to match the scale of scope of what is needed to drive tech solutions that partner with the Global South at inception.

Ocean Pavilion Partners Unveil COP28 Dubai Ocean Declaration in Advance of UN Climate Conference

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) has been a hot topic lately, as many sustainability experts look beyond reducing greenhouse gas emissions for mitigating climate change.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend The World Ocean Summit hosted by Economist Impact as part of my ClimateCap Fellowship and on behalf of Propeller as their MBA Venture Capital intern. A few weeks later, I’ve now had time to reflect on my experience at the Ocean Summit, and look back on main takeaways from the keynote speeches, panel discussions, and meet and greet conversations. In doing so, I have pulled together the key themes I feel were central to the summit and are critical to achieving a sustainable blue economy.