International Forum on Blue Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Successfully Held in Qingdao
On October 24, 2024, the International Forum on Blue Disaster Prevention and Mitigation was grandly held in Qingdao. Co-organized by the First Institute of Oceanography under the Ministry of Natural Resources, Decade Collaborative Center on Ocean-Climate Nexus and Coordination Amongst Decade Implementing Partners in P.R. China (DCC-OCC), and Elsevier, the forum is one of the parallel forums of the 2024 Marine Cooperation Development Forum, aiming to discuss strategies for addressing marine and climate disasters in the context of climate change. More than 140 experts, scholars, and government officials from over 10 countries attended the event, which was also broadcast globally through the Elsevier platform.
SUN Shuxian, Vice Minister for Natural Resources of China and Director-General of the State Oceanic Administration, attended the forum and delivered a speech. He emphasized the need for the international community to jointly address the challenges posed by marine disasters and climate change and to seek collaborative solutions. To this end, China is willing to work with the globe to develop marine disaster warning systems and work out solutions to disaster prevention and mitigation by deeply engaging in cooperation and actions on disaster prevention and mitigation within the framework of the Ocean Decade.
Professor Yutaka Michida, Chair of the IOC-UNESCO, expressed gratitude for China's strong support for the IOC and stated that the key to the Ocean Decade Initiative is to achieve innovation in marine scientific research for the sustainable development of the global ocean and the world. In this regard, more knowledge about climate change needs to be disseminated to better respond to marine and climate disasters, protect our environment and ecosystems, and establish a global cooperative framework through enhanced collaboration.
ZHU Honghai, Level I Bureau Rank Official of the Department of General Affairs, China International Development Cooperation Agency, mentioned in his remarks that China and other countries share a common responsibility in addressing marine climate change and combating marine disasters. He expressed willingness to continue increasing investment in blue development cooperation, with a further focus on blue disaster prevention and mitigation to create a new platform for marine development cooperation.
Paubert Mahatante, Minister For Fisheries and the Blue Economy of Madagascar, pointed out that Madagascar looks forward to deepening cooperation with governments, the UN, and NGOs to propose more scientific solutions and enhance risk resilience.
ZOU Guangde, Party Secretary of the Shandong Association for Science & Technology, highlighted that technological innovation and cooperation are crucial in facing challenges together and serve as an important force for promoting peaceful development. He called for efforts to explore new patterns of scientific exchange and cooperation, pushing to build a new ecology of open innovation and continuously expand the blue network for practical marine scientific collaboration.
Finally, Ibrahim Mimrah, Minister of State for Climate Change, Environment and Energy of Maldives, urged the international community to recognize the vulnerabilities of small island developing countries like Maldives and called for active collaboration in designing ocean solutions to combat climate change.
After the speeches, the forum unveiled the "Ocean and Climate Early wArNing Universal System (OCEANUS)". This system, jointly developed by the OSF and the First Institute of Oceanography (FIO) of the Ministry of Natural Resources of China, relies on significant breakthroughs in turbulence theory and modeling technology in China, greatly enhancing the forecasting capabilities for marine, typhoon. The system currently includes four subsystems: global ocean numerical forecasting, coral bleaching early warning, maritime search and rescue forecasting, and oil spill drift forecasting, with plans to release typhoon forecasting and climate prediction subsystems in the future.
The second session of the forum was moderated by Prof. HUANG E, a member of the National Academy of Engineering in the USA and a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Experts from both domestic and international backgrounds conducted an in-depth discussion on the overall layout, global demands, and solutions for blue disaster prevention and mitigation under the Ocean Decade. The Chair of the IOC, Yutaka Michida, presented the overarching concept for disaster prevention and mitigation related to marine and climate hazards during the UN Ocean Decade. He emphasized the critical importance of original technological breakthroughs and international cooperation in blue disaster risk reduction.
Professor Nor Aieni Haji Mokhtar, former Chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu and an expert on the UN Ocean Decade Advisory Group, highlighted the severe challenges Southeast Asia faces regarding marine and climate disasters. She noted that collaboration with the First Institute of Oceanography under the Ministry of Natural Resources over the past 15 years has significantly enhanced marine forecasting capabilities in Southeast Asia. This partnership has not only improved the capacity of local scientists but has also benefitted coastal communities' safety and marine ecological protection through the development of original theories and models from China.
Professor QIAO Fangli, member of Academia Europaea and Deputy Director General of FIO, discussed China's original breakthroughs in theory, modeling, and observation. He stated that these technological advances serve as the foundation for blue disaster risk reduction and will directly benefit people around the world.
The third session was chaired by Vladimir Ryabinin, former Executive Secretary of IOC-UNESCO, with the theme "Co-designing New Mechanisms for Blue Disaster Prevention and Mitigation." YU Weidong, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University and Scientific Executive Director of DCC-OCC, presented the need for and concepts surrounding a new international cooperation mechanism for blue disaster prevention and mitigation. He called for strengthened international collaboration amid climate change.
Officials and experts from Madagascar, Maldives, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Kenya actively participated, sharing the significant challenges faced by their countries in blue disaster reduction. They expressed a desire to establish new cooperative mechanisms focused on blue disaster prevention and mitigation, aiming to enhance collaboration and share high-tech public service products under this new framework.
Finally, Vladimir Ryabinin and QIAO Fangli summarized the meeting, emphasizing that the forum gathered insights from multiple countries and reached a consensus on establishing a new mechanism for blue disaster prevention and mitigation. The next steps will involve pooling wisdom to support blue disaster risk reduction and global ocean governance with core technological breakthroughs, contributing to sustainable development and climate change responses worldwide.
The successful convening of this forum not only further enhances the global capacity to respond to climate change, but also provides an important opportunity for countries to collaborate in the field of blue disaster prevention and mitigation. Participants unanimously agreed that future efforts must focus on strengthening international cooperation to jointly shape a new mechanism for blue disaster prevention and mitigation. This collaboration is essential for addressing the significant challenges posed by climate change and for contributing technological support to protect marine ecosystems and ensure a shared future for humanity.