Green Ocean Farming Media

Here at Green Ocean Farming we are very proud to announce that our director Alec Watt has recently had the accolade of being appointed and recognised as an innovator and leader within the world of aquaculture.

He recently attended Westminster Abbey alongside other leaders of commerce and industry to celebrate the launch of the publication to mark the 300-year centenary of Parliamentary history.

This publication has been written by St James Publications which gives in detail, industries and businesses that have shaped the country, past, present, and future.

With this accolade as a future leader Alec spent the evening mixing with dignitaries, Peers of The Realm and Members of Parliament, alongside other leaders and innovators.

We are very excited with this development and look forward to working alongside many diverse sectors of the economy.  

" You can help us achieve our goals, not by thinking about what we do today, but by the way we approach and treat our tomorrows" - Alec Watt

Ocean-based solutions must be part of the many urgent and varied solutions required to address the climate crisis. Nature-based solutions could provide one third of the climate change mitigations required, but currently they attract less than 3% of the funds invested globally in addressing climate change. 

In recognition of the vital role our ocean must play in urgent climate change mitigation and adaptation, these ocean-based solutions must be adopted with pace, and at scale, by 2030. 

We are calling on the UK Government and devolved administrations to act with urgency to invest in, co-develop and implement a four-nation Blue Carbon Strategy. Specifically, the Blue Carbon Strategy should focus on three key nature-based action areas, where Governments should: SCALE UP THE REFORESTATION OF OUR SEAS FOR BIODIVERSITY AND BLUE CARBON 

• Deliver at least 30% of UK seas as Highly Protected Marine Protected Areas (hpMPAs), including at least 10% Fully Protected Marine Protected Areas (fpMPAs) by 2030. This should start with the exclusion of bottom-towed trawling and dredging from all offshore MPAs designated for benthic features in UK waters by 2024 at the latest.

• Implement bottom-towed fishing gear free zones around the entirety of the UK coast in nearshore waters, the extent of which should be dependent on local and regional considerations, to recover marine ecosystems, support the recovery of fish and shellfish stocks and protect and restore blue carbon habitats. 

• Support ambitious projects to restore key blue carbon habitats such as seagrass, oyster reefs and kelp forests around the UK coast. 

• Unlock the value of the natural capital of our ocean, alongside the innovation and resources of the private sector, through the development of sustainable market finance initiatives. INTEGRATE BLUE CARBON PROTECTION AND RECOVERY INTO CLIMATE MITIGATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT POLICIES 

• As part of a Blue Carbon Strategy, commit UK governments to specific and ambitious blue carbon habitat recovery, restoration and protection targets in the UK’s next Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Climate Agreement in 2025. 

• Fully account for blue carbon in UK carbon budgeting. 

• Develop a comprehensive ‘Ocean Charter’ that integrates nature recovery plans with climate change mitigation and adaptation policies, including those for Blue Carbon. This will provide a pathway for the UK to meet its commitments to Sustainable Development Goal and the Decade of Ocean Science for countries to develop national ‘Sustainable Ocean Plans’ to deliver a sustainable Blue Economy, by 2030.