An official side event of GEO Week 2021
25 November 2021, 11:00 – 11:50 CET (10:00 – 10:50 UTC)
Given that approximately 25% of Africa’s population live within 100 km of the coast, marine hazards pose increasing threats at local and regional levels. These include eutrophication, coastal flooding, marine pollution, and water-borne diseases – all of which can be exacerbated by climate change.
The side event will review the role Earth Observations play in monitoring, preparing for, and recovering from, marine hazards and what GEO can do to support the coastal aspects of the Sendai Framework for disaster risk reduction in Africa to inform priorities and identify opportunities for future collaboration across GEO activities and regional GEOs working on this thematic. In the context of the UN Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development, the event supports the Decade outcome a “safe ocean” and links to the Ocean Decade programmes such as CoastPredict and CEOS COAST.
Draft programme
The programme is subject to changes.
Event moderator – Audrey Hasson GEO Blue Planet EU coordinator/ Mercator Ocean International
- Introduction
- A global overview of marine hazards in Africa – Carlos Loureiro, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- Local perspective, what issues are faced?
- Seychelles – Justin Prosper, Ministry of Environment
- Senegal – Amadou Moctar DIEYE Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE)
- Addressing coastal pollution (plastic litter, oil spill, agricultural run off…)
- AfriGEO – Phoebe Oduor
- GEO Blue Planet – Emily Smail
- GEO Human Planet – Daniele Ehrlich
- GEO Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction – David Borges
- GEO Digital Earth Africa – Adam Lewis
- Panel discussion
Click here to register for event on the GEO Week 2021 website.
Organisers
- GEO Blue Planet
- AfriGEO
- GEO Human Planet
- GEO Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group
- GEO Digital Earth Africa
- Mercator Ocean International – EU4OceanObs project