What does a healthy ocean really look like?

07/31/21 • 30 min

No matter where in the world you live, your life is affected by the ocean. But many of our oceans are sick, and have been so for a while. So what’s keeping them from bouncing back to full health? Well, it’s partly down to not agreeing on what a healthy ocean actually looks like that makes it hard to settle on the best course of action. But things might be about to change, albeit slowly.

New science-based tools like the Ocean Health Index offer comprehensive assessments of the social, economic, and environmental conditions of an ocean.

In this episode, Susa Niiranen talks to Ben Halpern the creator of the Ocean Health Index, and Thorsten Blenckner, a researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre who with his team has developed a spin-off called the Baltic Health Index.

Together, they explore what it takes to restore an ocean to good health, and to what extent these new assessments can help us reach our goals.

More information, including links to mentioned publications: www.rethink.earth/making-our-oceans-healthy-again/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New science-based tools like the Ocean Health Index offer comprehensive assessments of the social, economic, and environmental conditions of an ocean.

Together, they explore what it takes to restore an ocean to good health, and to what extent these new assessments can help us reach our goals.

More information, including links to mentioned publications: www.rethink.earth/making-our-oceans-healthy-again/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Carl Folke on resilience, the biosphere and the future of our planet

How did we get to where we are today and what will it take to move away from it? In this episode, Owen Gaffney talks to Carl Folke, a co-founder of the Stockholm Resilience Centre and one of the most cited scientists in the world across all disciplines. He is also the director of the Beijer Institute for Ecological Economics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, and has received numerous awards and recognitions over the years.

Folke has spearheaded the modern thinking around social-ecological systems and how we must stop considering nature and the environment as something separate from society. He has previously said that he is "embarrassed as a human that we have in two generations created mindsets where we consider ourselves independent of the biosphere".

Now, luckily, he says, we are rapidly gaining that perspective again.

In this special edition of Rethink Talks, Carl Folke reflects on his own career path, resilience thinking, and why it's important to not be constrained by a certain theory or method when trying to solve a challenge. He also provides a unique glimpse into the launch of the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

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Next Episode

Who are the real experts of climate change adaptation?

The sixth IPCC report sent a clear message: we are one minute to midnight and the rate and scale of action that is required is immense. However, all too often, the solutions presented are top-down and framed in an outdated North-South perspective. We need voices from the climate change frontline to not only be rightfully acknowledged and valued, but to be learned from as climate adaptation experts.

In this episode, Ameil Harikishun, policy officer for the Global Resilience Partnership, talks to Harini Nagendra, director of Research Center and head of Center for Climate Change and Sustainability, both at the Azim Premji University in India. And Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh and Professor at the Independent University Bangladesh. With decades of experience combined, they share their insights on locally led adaption and what is needed for it to work.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.