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We can still save the Ocean
 Signed at ONE OCEAN FORUM, the Charta Smeralda establishes the main principles for the safeguard of the ocean and the marine environment.
 LABs provided innovative ideas and solutions, such as the creation of a Corporate University One Ocean and a digital boat sharing platform to sustain marine preservation and to put in touch sailors and researchers.  
 

Milan, 4 October 2017- This morning in Milan ended ONE OCEAN Forum, the marine preservation event organised by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and Princess Zahra Aga Khan, in collaboration with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and SDA Bocconi Sustainability LAB, under the patronage of several institutions: The British Virgin Islands –BVI; Italy’s Ministry for the Environment; the Municipality of Milan; the Autonomous Region of Sardinia; Italy’s Olympic Committee CONI; SYBAss; Nautica Italiana; UCINA, Confindustria Nautica; Genoa International Boat Show and Centro Velico Caprera.
 
For the first time in Italy, international speakers from UNESCO and scientific experts from the most renowned universities of the world, together with businesses, NGOs, journalists and students debated over the destiny of our Oceans.
 
At the end of the event, Princess Zahra Aga Khan and the Commodore of YCCS signed the Charta Smeralda, a document outlining the ethical and conduct principles to safeguard the sea.
 
Charta Smeralda aims to promote marine pollution awareness of the main elements impacting the marine environment and to define concrete and immediate resolved actions.

12 points of the Charta are addressed to any individual and the contribute anyone can guarantee with one’s own behaviour. 8 other points are addressed to institutions. The document would be further spread and promoted and shared across both public and private organisations and institutions at national, international and supranational level.
 
Signing the Charta, YCCS’ commodore explained: “Science by itself cannot promote the necessary changes. The challenge is great: to protect the ocean that is suffering because of our fault, by ensuring that everyone’s attention remained focused and alert.
This forum was born from the idea that the Ocean has given us a lot and now it is the time to give something back. I would like to thank the Princess Zahra, patroness of this initiative, and every stakeholder of the Forum. The Charta Smeralda is the means and the voice of this initiative and we hope that as many people as possible will adhere to it”.

Coherent with the priorities stated by the UN’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development, the main principles of the Charta are: the prevention from coastal and marine pollution (e.g. avoiding the discharge of wastewaters, or guaranteeing the adoption of outflow-proof procedures); the preservation of water resources by minimising consumption; the reduction of energetic consumption and carbon footprint through the adoption of renewable energy sources; the optimization of natural resources; the elimination of disposable plastic items; the protection of the natural and maritime environment (e.g. by implementing the correct mooring procedures); the adoption of a sustainable, ethical and responsible behavior; the play of an active role in the protection and recovery of the sea; the collaboration and sharing with others; the support to the scientific community (e.g. by adopting the Paris Climate Agreement); the education and involvement of new generations; the promotion of awareness; to circulation of the message of the Charta Smeralda.

The LABs held in the first day of the Forum shaped a roadmap of concrete solutions.
The strength of LABs lied on the involment of actors with different backgrounds around each pressing issue: university students, experts, international researchers, journalists, NGOs and different businesses brought their own expertise to each panel. For example, Audi, Dompè and Pantecnica debated over Blue Technologies and Innovation; Intercos and Biofarma over microplastics; Aquafil, Sipa and Fondazione Catella over plastic pollution and Perini Navi over Ocean Literacy.

The LABs put forth a series of concrete actions for the definition of a roadmap to sustain the marine preservation:

1)    Marine Litter & Pollution – Microplastic:

-    Actions to promote correct information, mostly coming from the scientific community;
-    Social campaigns to increase awareness of plastic pollution and to encourage mitigation and reduction of microplastics;
-    Incentives for the recovery of fishing nets;
-    Design and mass production of microfilters for washing machines to avoid the dispersion of microplastics.

2)    Marine Litter & Pollution – Plastic:
-    Creation of a rewarding and competitive scheme for the sharing of corporate best practices;
-    Creation of a deposit tax to stimulate the reduction of production and usage of plastic material.

3)    Climate & Global Change:
-    “Walk  the  talk”:  make the climate change more tangible by discussing about it every day;
-    “The  Switch”: design an App measuring the impact of sustainable actions, generating a score that could explain the users how they contribute to restrain the climate change.
-    Map the environmental and landscape preservation projects evaluating their capacity to generate wealth for the surrounding areas.
-    Incentives to the circular economy to enable the recovery and regeneration of waste.

4)    Blue technologies & innovations
-    Creation of the “ONE OCEAN Corporate University” to promote education and information processes started by the Forum;
-    Definition of aspirational standards to create long-term corporate sustainability pathways.
-    Definition of an “Ocean rating system” that enables to valuate companies at an environmental sustainability level.
-    Definition of an “Ocean rating system” that enables the evaluation of companies’ environmental sustainability

5)    Ocean Literacy:
-    Creation of a digital platform for the collection of information about oceans and their integration with the best practices;
-    Creation of a digital platform that enables sailors and boat owners to host researchers that need to conduct field investigations (Airb&b for boats and researchers);
-    Organisation of workshops at a local level.
 
At an international level, the market value of the marine resources and coastal industries is estimated to 3,000 billions of US dollars every year, equivalent to 5% of the global GDP.
Nowadays, 8 million tonnes of plastic waste end up in the ocean every year. An estimated 1.2 million of microplastics (fragment smaller than 5mm) per square kilometre can be found in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the highest concentration in the world. In the end, more than 3 billion people depend on coastal and marine biodiversity for their subsistence.
 
Climate change, acidification of water, loss of biodiversity, marine pollution and the excessive exploitation of natural resources are few examples of issues that are emerging and require an urgent intervention.

ONE OCEAN FORUM’s players
In these two days took the stage Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO; François Bailet, Senior Legal Officer at the UN’s Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea division; Sam Dupont, a researcher in marine ecophysiology at the University of Gothenburg; and Maria Cristina Fossi, a professorof ecology and ecotoxicology at the University of Siena and scientific director of the biomarker laboratory of the department of physical sciences, earth and environment. 
UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova and Naples’s “Anton Dohrn” zoologic station and marine organisms and biodiveristy research centre recorded two video messages.

Together with them, ambassadors and witnesses of the marine magic: the American sailor Paul Cayard; former free immersion apnoea world-record holder Davide Carrera; Franco-American artist and environmental photographer Anne de Corbuccia; and explorer and BBC and National Geographic journalis Paul Rose.

A key moment of the Forum was the panel dedicated to the presentation of best practices, virtuous projects that saw the implementation of sustainable manufacturing alternatives in the name of the blue technology, by Nino Tronchetti Provera of Ambienta, Giulio Bonazzi of Aquafil, Alfonso Saibene Canepa of Canepa, Daniela Ducato of Geolana and Erin Smith of Ocean Sole.

ONE OCEAN Forum’s objective is not only to increase awareness of the marine ecosystem and to shape a multiple stage roadmap for the achievement of goals concerning marine preservation, but also to demnstrate concrete commitment.

The Forum was invented by YCCS in collaboration with FeelRouge Worldwide Shows, strategic partner responsible for the overall organisation. Its contents were defined by ONE OCEAN Forum scientific committee led by UNESCO and SDA Bocconi with the support of Rolex and Audi, historic partners of YCCS, Aquafil, Luxury Living Group, Dilbar, Intercos, Fondazione Carriero, Perini Navi, Pantecnica, Fondazione Riccardo Catella, Sipa, Dompé, Biofarma and Immobilsarda.

For further information and images, please visit www.oneoceanforum.org and www.yccs.com.

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International media

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