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Three successful side events hosted at the 3rd UN Ocean Conference

GEORGE co-organised three successful side events at the 3rd UN Ocean Conference, organised in Nice, France beween 9-13 June 2025. The side events, all organised on 12 June, brought together hundreds of audience members on-site and online. Below is a short summary of the discussions.

The first event, hosted by Euro-Argo at the European Digital Ocean Pavilion, focused on addressing the strategic, financial, and geopolitical challenges of sustaining and strengthening Europe’s contribution, through Euro-Argo, to this essential global effort. This roundtable was one of the best attended session of the Digital Pavilion and a very lively and enthusiastic discussion witnessed the most prominent role of Argo in ocean observation and downward applications.

Read a summary of the discussion here.

Karina von Schuckmann, Science Officer, Mercator Ocean International at the Euro-Argo side event.

The second panel, hosted by ICOS, and titled “Enhancing Ocean Carbon Monitoring to Support the Paris Agreement”, was similarly hosted at the European Digital Ocean Pavilion and brought together around 550 participants on-site and online. The panel discussed the latest developments in autonomous ocean carbon measurements, challenges in measuring and verifying marine carbon dioxide removals, and the need for sustained direct measurements. It also addressed key questions around funding and governance. The global expert panel included speakers from Canada, Australia and France.

Read more about the event here.

Dariia Atamanchuck (right) from Dalhousie University spoke on the latest innovations in autonomous technologies.

The expert panel discussed the scientific and legal dimensions of ocean carbon removal technologies, underscoring the critical need for quality data, regulatory clarity, and sustained global observation networks. The panelists included Anya Waite (Ocean Frontier Institute), Toste Tanhua (GEOMAR), Werner Kutsch (ICOS) and Youna Lyons Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS) & National University of Singapore (NUC-SIL).

Panelists and speakers from left to right: Peter Croot, Youna Lyons, Anya Waite, Toste Tanhua, Dariia Atamanchuck, Werner Kutsch, Richard Sanders and Thorsten Kiefer.

Lightning talks showcased recent inspiring work in data management, autonomous technologies, stakeholder engagement, and global observing programmes. The speakers included Peter Croot (University of Galway), Dariia Atamanchuk (Dalhousie University), Thorsten Kiefer (JPI Oceans), Emma Heslop and Cristina Miño  (GOOS) and Richard Sanders (NORCE & ICOS). Speakers and panelists emphasised that without coordinated international collaboration, strengthened governance frameworks, and investment in new technology, we risk undermining the potential of the ocean in climate solutions.

Senior Research Scientist Dariia Atamanchuck presented a lightning talk on autonomous ocean observations, highlighting the need for common data standards and standard operating procedures and progressive phasing of new instruments.
Richard Sanders, GEORGE WP5 co-lead, presented an overview of the Ostend Declaration, an initiative driven by 100 scientists on operationalising the surface ocean carbon value chain.

Read more about the event here.

Thank you to the panelists, audience members and everyone who contributed to the success of the events!