Skip to content

Advancing Ocean Conservation in 2025

Advancing Ocean Conservation in 2025: Job #1 – Tackling Climate Disruption  

Brad Ack, Ocean Visions CEO 


2024 was challenging for those working to maintain a livable planet for people and nature. As the hottest year on human record, with an overwhelming number of climate-intensified natural disasters, the past year left no doubt about the primary imperative of addressing the climate crisis as the single priority for conservation of the ocean, and survival of many of earth’s species.

While we saw near daily evidence about the accelerating pace of the climate disruption our modern society has wrought, we also saw the emergence of many new potential solutions, and a growing and thoughtful dialogue about the breadth of responses that are needed to slow and ultimately stop the disruption.

On the global stage, 2024 illuminated the immense challenges before us: The unacceptably slow pace of international efforts, the normalization of climate denialism at the highest levels, and unwavering opposition from fossil fuel interests signal the difficulty of the road ahead. However, there was also growing acceptance of the reality that we now must expand our climate action agenda, and that the ocean has vast potential as an ally in that expanded effort. We also saw a growing cohort of innovators and inventors rising to address the challenges.  

2024 has only served to stiffen Ocean Visions’ resolve to continue to advance a bold, forward-thinking ocean-climate agenda to directly confront global climate disruption, from an ocean lens, and leverage our most abundant resource to do so – the power of human ingenuity. 

REINVENTING OCEAN CONSERVATION: Abating climate impacts is the top priority

Our work remains focused at the intersection of the ocean and climate crises with four interdependent pillars to address and abate climate impacts to the ocean (and planet): sharply reducing global CO2 emissions, cleaning up and removing legacy CO2 pollution from the environment, repairing and rebuilding damaged marine ecosystems, and growing an inclusive global community of innovators and practitioners.

In 2024, our team redoubled our signature work to accelerate and scale RD&D for marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) approaches, marked by a full refresh of our mCDR road maps, the creation of a second cohort of our accelerator program Launchpad, and the development of our Ocean Iron Fertilization Site Suitability Tool to guide the design and siting of effective field trials. 

We plowed new ground in our work to repair and restore ocean ecosystems that are foundational to a stable climate with the release of the first-of-its-kind assessment of potential approaches to slow the loss of Arctic sea ice. Representing more than a year’s worth of intensive research, and guided by a global advisory board, the final product was published as an online, interactive road map. It identifies 21 approaches that can potentially prolong and rebuild sea ice, reviews what we know and don’t know about each of them, and lays out a set of priorities for action to increase our collective understanding of the potentials of each to forestall continuing losses of ice and avoid ocean-climate tipping points. We also launched the Arctic Sea Ice Restoration Research Fund to advance the highest priority research in this arena, a fund which we hope to operationalize in 2025. 

And, to expand the role the ocean must play in the transition away from a high carbon-emissions economy, we finalized an analysis of more than 20 ocean-based decarbonization solutions to better understand each of their potential contributions to global emissions reductions. This work informed where Ocean Visions’ efforts can yield the greatest results in this arena, and will lead to initiatives in 2025 to advance RD&D in underinvested areas of marine renewable energy and the development of high-value co-products derived from seaweeds.   

Critical to success in all areas of our work, we’ve continued to address international policy and to inform and activate a global community of ocean-climate solvers, by engaging at key international ocean and climate forums and through continued development of our Global Ecosystem for Ocean Solutions (GEOS) program. This year we launched an international ocean-climate fellowship program and awarded fellowships in Kenya, Tanzania, and Colombia in support of the establishment of ocean-climate innovation hubs in those countries. 

PICKING UP THE PACE IN 2025

In 2025, we are committed to continuing to advance these and other strategies, with some exciting new initiatives planned. We also look forward to our 2025 Summit in March, where we will continue to support and inform the diverse community working to advance practical, responsible, and scalable ocean-climate solutions.

As we all know, in 2025 and beyond we face a very difficult political landscape for ocean and climate action. This new reality challenges us to redouble our efforts to find solutions that transcend politics. That, in turn, reinforces the importance of an organization like Ocean Visions.   

We function as a convener and activator, convening broad, multisectoral, and interdisciplinary partners. We work to forge new connections across sectors, co-design new initiatives, and relentlessly push for greater ambition amongst those making decisions at the front lines of the ocean-climate nexus.

WAVES OF GRATITUDE

We are ready to rise to the challenges of 2025. We know you are too! Together, we have a much better chance of overcoming the big challenges ahead, finding and acting on new opportunities that arise, and always focused on advancing progress towards a sustainable, thriving future for the ocean and all that depend on it.

I’m deeply grateful to the Ocean Visions’ board, Network Leadership Team, funders, partners, and the tremendous team here at Ocean Visions—without whom our progress would be impossible. Together and with commitment and fortitude, we can accelerate the transition to a low-carbon, biologically diverse, and resilient future—one where the ocean can thrive!

DIVE DEEPER