2018 4th Climate Change Symposium - Welcome

Welcome

Welcome from Muriel Bowser, Mayor, Washington, DC

Welcome from Symposium Convenors:

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to Washington DC and the 4th International Symposium on the Effects of Climate Change on the World’s Oceans (ECCWO). This important meeting will bring together more than 600 of the world’s current and next-generation experts to share information, build understanding and advance responses to climate impacts on oceans and the many people, businesses and communities that depend on them.

The ECCWO Symposium series was launched in 2008 by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) to address the urgent need for information on changing oceans. All three of the prior Symposia (Spain 2008, Korea 2012 and Brazil 2015) have played a key role in advancing our understanding of the causes, consequences and responses to the effects of climate change on oceans.

This 4th ECCWO Symposium comes at a key juncture in understanding and responding to climate impacts on ocean systems. National and international assessments confirm that the Earth’s climate and oceans are rapidly changing, the impacts are already evident in some regions and more impacts are expected with continued changes in the planet’s climate system. There is much at stake. Changing oceans are expected to have significant impacts on a wide range of issues from food security, national security and international relations, to the resilience of peoples, communities and economies. Future efforts will utilize the products, outcomes and lessons emerging from this Symposium.

We hope this Symposium provides an inspiring venue for increasing understanding and responses to changing oceans. The demand for information is high, and the opportunities to advance the science are many. Please take advantage of the Symposium Workshops, Sessions and other events to network with colleagues from around the world and help advance the international science collaboration needed to address these issues.

We thank the Symposium organizers (ICES, PICES, IOC-UNESCO, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)) for their vision, dedication and hard work that made this meeting a reality. We also thank the many other sponsors for their outstanding support for this important gathering.

Thank you for being an important part of this Symposium. We wish you all the best at ECCWO 2018!

Manuel Barange, Véronique Garçon, Shin-ichi Ito, Jason Link
Convenors, ECCWO 2018