This week, Planet Beyond is recording live at the 2024 Ocean Decade conference in Barcelona. In this second of our three daily live episodes, we look back over the first day of the event, and look forward to the next.

We speak to Ambassador Peter Thomson, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean. We also hear from Anna Majó Crespo, of Barcelona City Council, and Taiji Terasaki, a Japanese-American artist from Hawaii, who exhibited at the conference.

Ambassador Thomson represented Fiji at the UN between 2010 and 2017, and has been a passionate advocate for islanders around the world. He helped drive the development of UN Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water, which forms the basis of the Decade

In the opening session of the conference, Ambassador Thomson brought a message to the event on behalf of the secretary general. He joined us on Wednesday, the first day of the conference, to look ahead to the rest of the event and reflect on progress made so far in the Ocean Decade.

Anna shared with us the news that Barcelona will be hosting a new Ocean Decade hub for collaboration. And Taiji, whose installation Deepest Reveries was commissioned by the Schmidt Ocean Institute for the event, talks about how art can inspire change.

Host

Jon Baston-Pitt, Fugro

Guest

Ambassador Peter Thomson, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean

Anna Majó Crespo, Director of Strategic Services and Innovation, Barcelona City Council

Taiji Terasaki, Artist

Photo credit IISD/ENB | Mika Schroder