OCEAN&CLIMATE VILLAGE, QINGDAO
PANELS STATEMENTS

Francesca Santoro – Senior Programme Officer of the IOC/UNESCO

“Our main objective is making sure that we use ocean knowledge to drive solutions for issues that are threatening ocean health. That is why we developed the ‘Ocean&Climate Village’, which aims at not only increasing people’s knowledge about the ocean but also at ensuring that knowledge is used in everyday life, encouraging behavioral changes. This is important for both the effects that these actions have on the marine ecosystem and the example sets to a wider society”.

“Scientists develop knowledge that cannot stay purely in academic circles, but it has to be used by society as a whole, otherwise we won’t be able to move forward towards ocean sustainability. Both science and society have to understand that we need to act urgently”.
 

Fangli Qiao – Director of DCC-OCC (UN Decade Collaborative Centre on Ocean-climate nexus and Coordination Amongst Decade Implementing Partners in P.R. China)

“As the air-conditioner of global people, the ocean absorbs 90% of the anthropogenic heat. By becoming warmer, marine ecosystems and biodiversity are at risk: if the ocean has a problem, we have a problem”.

“Scientists need to access data, but this is expensive, so we need to find innovative solutions that are cheaper. Chinese researchers have developed a new type of drifting buoy technology, using satellites, which has greatly reduced the cost of ocean observation, thus greatly improving society’s ability to observe the ocean and climate”.
 

Robert Parua – Educational Specialist in the UNESCO Multisectorial Regional Office for East Asia

“For UNESCO education is key to achieve sustainable development and implement all the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

“We are pushing very hard with governments to make sure that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is fully integrated at a mainstream level into the curricula of primary and secondary schools. We hope that also ocean literacy will become part of the curricula”.
 

You Yang – Art Director of UCCA Group

“Through this collaboration we would like to bring art education closer to society and serve the need to protect our ocean. Having children and adolescents as key audiences can help nurture the ‘ocean generation’, one that is ocean literate. The younger generation provides vital power for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals”.
 

Kong Lingyi – Vice President for Marketing and Branding, UCCA Group

“Human activities have huge impact on the ocean and there are many different types of ocean pollution, however sound pollution is still often neglected by the public”.
 

Li Xian – Actor, Prada Ambassador, PADI Global Youth Ocean Ambassador

“As a public figure, I hope to pass the voice of the ocean onto more and more people; helping them understand, encouraging them to join and sparking their enthusiasm for the ongoing project of marine conservation. When I went diving in the Hainan province, I saw a lot of plastics in the sea and the bags we planned to use for picking up garbage for 40 minutes were filled up within 20 minutes. I was therefore pleased I had the opportunity to plant coral in the sea”.
 

Sui Haidong – Manager of Marine Conservation Projects of SEE Foundation

“Thanks to the relentless efforts of both myself and my colleagues, in just the past year, we have successfully protected and rehabilitated over 25,000 hectares of critical marine ecosystems, including mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs. We've also been instrumental in safeguarding more than 350 Chinese white dolphins and releasing over 100 sea turtles back into the wild. Furthermore, our collaborative endeavors have supported over 30 partner organizations in their joint marine environmental protection initiatives”.
 

Yang Guangbing – Associate Research Fellow of First Institute of Oceanography, MNR

“Sound is the best way to detect the ocean. Strong sunlight can only penetrate the ocean to a depth of one or two hundred meters, below which it is black. Sound, on the other hand, can travel thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers in the ocean. Using sound to communicate in the ocean and to detect the ocean is a common choice for both humans and marine animals”.

“We hope to use the method of ‘digital ocean’ - a technology that reproduces the ocean environment in a computer - calculates and outputs various elements that affect ocean noise and helps to better understand and manage it”.