Reflections at the close of the International Congress of Ocean Sailing and the Marine Environment.
Date: 30-Dec-2010 by: Dylan Sears
The official closure of the I International Congress on Ocean Sailing and the Marine Environment took place at 17:00. The overall outcome of the event was very positive, both in terms of visitors and interest in the Congress online, as well as the conclusions and debate generated over the three day event. Over 150 registered congress guests attended the sessions held at the El Far Barcelona building and over 400 people followed the event online. Tomorrow the Congress visitors will have two options to follow the start of the Barcelona World Race, either from the water or from Barcelona's Hotel W.
On the final day of the Congress the focus was firmly on the environment. The morning session focussed on the theme of the competition space, 'The Blue Planet'. The future of the marine environment was discussed, as well as the protection of the oceans and the effects of climate change. The table was made up of Mario Rodríguez (Greenpeace), Rémi Parmentier (Varda Group) Gordon Hamilton (University of Maine, Glaciologist), Hugo Morán ( PSOE Federal Secretary for the environment and spokesperson for the environment at Spain's Congress of Deputies), Luis Valdés (Director of Ocean Sciences at UNESCO), Maria Hood (Director of the IOCCP, the Intergovernmental Oceanic Commission) and Tomás Molina (meteorologist).
Rémi Parmentier, Hugo Morán and Mario Rodríguez delivered the public and social vision of the issues. Later Luis Valdés, Gordon Hamilton and Maria Hood examined the scientific issues behind the problem. In the afternoon session the delegates discussed conclusions from the COP 16 Conference on Climate Change organised by the UN and held in Cancun from the 29th of November to the 10th of December this year.
The main aspects of the conclusions covered three central areas: how to recycle boats and their components; how to avoid the invasion of the marine animal environment by avoiding, for example collisions with whales, especially in their migration period; and finally the panel looked at how climate change may affect round the world competitions, with ice heading further north of the southern hemisphere and opening up new routes through the Arctic, some now even used by commercial shipping routes. "Something all of the delegates and guests agreed on was that this isn't just a long term problem. We are seeing the effects now and it is a race against time. The planet is asking us to act now", said Víctor Montero, the Congress Commissioner. www.barcelonaworldrace.org |
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