Waterside Chat with Jean Flemma
Climate Change and Our Oceans
My work at the Marine Fish Conservation Network includes hosting a live stream series and podcast called Waterside Chat. The series connects people who depend on healthy oceans and fisheries with the issues that directly affect them and their communities.
Jean Flemma, co-founder of the Urban Ocean Lab and director of the Ocean Defense Initiative, joined me for a Waterside Chat on July 19, 2023. Jean is a long-time policy hand who has offered me important and very wise counsel on ocean policy over the years. We covered a range of issues related to oceans and climate change, focusing on actions by the Biden administration and the Blueprint for Ocean Climate Action.
Among many other topics, Jean and I discussed:
Why our food supply, coastal communities, coral reefs and more are threatened as the ocean warms and acidifies
Why if we want a livable planet for our children, we can no longer kick the climate can down the road
The Biden administration’s commitment to addressing climate change’s effects on our oceans, and how they are following through on it, including historic sums allocated for coastal-community resilience, electrification of ports and much more
Why NMFS needs to be doing a lot more to support fisheries managers in addressing the challenges climate change presents to our fisheries
How the Ocean Defense Initiative focuses on the idea of amplifying ocean issues, to help them break through with decision-makers
How Blueprint for Ocean Climate Action was crowdsourced from a wide swath of advocates, scientists and activists
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