Welcome to our November Newsletter.
We hope everyone is doing well.
COP26 Overview
The world’s highest-level and largest climate summit, COP26, began on Nov. 1 and gaveled in an agreement on November 13th. COP's ultimate goal was to negotiate and produce agreements to limit global warming to 1.5℃. It made progress, but fell short: keeping warming to 1.5℃ is not yet within reach, but neither is the door entirely closed.
Oceans at COP26
At a technical level, the ocean was formally recognized as an official topic for action under the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). Most significantly, COP26’s final agreement calls for an annual dialogue to strengthen ocean-based action that will take place every May/June from 2022, before reporting back to the COP towards the end of the year.
There were also numerous specific ocean initiatives announced; here is a concise summary of five key takeaways, courtesy of the World Ocean Initiative. Our own Vanessa Fajans-Turner attended most of the conference and was grateful to have the opportunity to connect with many of our friends and partners. We would also like to congratulate Sam Teicher and Gator Halpern of the Coral Vita Team for receiving HRH Prince William’s Earthshot Prize.
A Busy Month for Innovation
Investable Oceans participated in three ocean innovation competitions in the past month. Vanessa served as a judge for the Ocean Impact Pitchfest 2021, see the winners here. Ted served as a judge for the 10th annual Ocean Exchange Awards, in addition to serving as a mentor for the Oceans Stream at CDL- Atlantic. The winners and finalists in these programs are truly impressive, and it’s a privilege to have the opportunity to participate alongside others who care deeply about the future of our oceans. There are many additional ocean innovation events in the coming months, to keep up on the latest information please feel free to subscribe to our calendar here.
Thank you, as always, for your support.
Ted, Brian, Vanessa and Glenn
