I have been passionate about protecting the oceans since as far back as I can remember. From telling people off for littering, to attempting to rescue marine life as a child, I have never given up on my mission to protect the ocean. I have been lucky enough to travel the world, observing the beauty of the ocean and witnessing some of the most egregious practices happening at sea.
I have worked both on land and at sea on a whole host of topics related to the protection of our ocean from campaigning to end whaling, pushing for protected areas at sea, promoting sustainable seafood, ending destructive fishing, exposing illegal fishing and highlighting slavery and labour abuse in fisheries. One of my current campaigning missions is to secure a moratorium on deep sea mining.
As a biracial and bicultural citizen of the world I strongly believe that by embracing our human diversity we can turn the tide for our ocean planet.
I am almost afraid to wish for meaningful action on climate change in 2021. I have been sounding the alarm on climate change since the 1990s. My thesis focussed on accelerated sea level rise as a consequence of climate change. Unfortunately the recognition by politicians to act on climate change has only recently gained traction. Climate change is at the root of the many sweeping changes we see around the world, from more intense weather patterns (storms, drought, and natural disasters), to political and social unrest, due to mass migrations resulting from climate change related impacts, to the emergence of diseases like Covid. Through climate change we have disrupted the natural order of things and we are facing the consequences. I hope that our experience with Covid returns a sense of humility in us as a species, and that we recognise that we are not observers to the natural world, but are a part of it. With this in mind we can build back better from this covid crisis. To secure our wellbeing and even survival we must tackle the climate crisis. We will see the next climate COP in Glasgow in 2021 and I hope world leaders will finally dare to take bold steps to bring us in line with what the science is telling us we need to do. Lastly, whilst the world has changed immensely in the last four years, not least in geopolitical terms, I am cautiously optimistic to see the new US administration take the climate crisis seriously.
