The Anthropocene Ocean: Shaping the future of marine social-ecological systems

JEAN-BAPTISTE JOUFFRAY

Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, USA

Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden

jouffray@stanford.edu

Link to seminar: https://umontpellier-fr.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ydZkiCQkRHmsZLjlINmFPw

Humans have become a dominant force of planetary change. This epoch, referred to as the Anthropocene, implies profound alterations to the Earth’s marine and terrestrial ecosystems upon which so many people depend. The prospect of an era of blue growth, in particular, poses unprecedented sustainability and governance challenges to the ocean, as marine ecosystems face cumulative pressures from local human impacts, global climate change, and distal socioeconomic drivers. This new phase in humanity’s use of the ocean, dubbed the “Blue Acceleration”, exhibits a phenomenal rate of change over the last 30 years, with a sharp acceleration characterising the onset of the 21^st century, in stark contrast to the slow pace at which new policy is being developed. But this scramble for the seas also poses issues of equity and benefit sharing: if there is a rush for the ocean, then who is racing? And who is being left behind? This seminar will explore what the Anthropocene means for the ocean through the lens of sustainability science and present efforts at the science-policy-practice interface to ensure a truly “blue” economy.

Watch previous seminars on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrX4IsZ8WIFcDa0ZmC7rcQg