Marine conference series 2011-2013

On the initiative of the Lübeck Dräger Foundation the most renowned marine researchers from Europe and the USA launched a series of marine conferences in Hamburg in June 2011 to protect the oceans more effectively. The conference series was continued in New York in 2012 and concluded with a final conference in Lisbon in 2013. The aim of the "Sustainable Oceans: Reconciling Economic Use and Protection" series was to integrate the latest scientific findings more quickly and directly into political action. Around 70 scientists and lawyers discussed the value of the oceans and the environmentally sound use of their vast energy resources.

Die Konferenzserie wurde in enger Zusammenarbeit mit der Columbia Universität und dem Kieler Excellenzcluster „Ozean der Zukunft“ durchgeführt. Unterstützt wurde sie u.a. von der EU-Kommission, dem Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung in Bremerhaven und dem Hamburger Team des Medien- und Forschungsschiffes ALDEBARAN.

As part of the conference, a European Ocean Commission was to be established, following the example of the USA, with the task of translating the most urgent scientific and social problems of the oceans into comprehensible and political approaches for action. The aim was to protect the oceans, the world's largest and most important ecosystem, faster and more effectively than before. Close cooperation with the existing American Ocean Commission was planned in order to jointly solve global challenges such as ocean pollution and progressive climate change across continental borders.