Pirates and Pioneers of the Ocean

Session Overview

For London Climate Action Week, THE NAT and partners Blue Marine Foundation and Mercuria hosted 48 guests for an evening at Six Senses Hotel, Baywater — conservationists, scientists, policymakers, investors and storytellers gathered around a shared, uncomfortable truth: we already know what the ocean needs, and we are not doing it at the scale or speed required. Dr Sylvia Earle set the tone across the night, reminding the room that ‘inside every one of you there is a kid … with the ability to ask questions, express wonder, be moved by this moment in time that has never happened before.’ Conversation moved from the inertia of political will to stories of restoration — coral reef ‘gardeners’ building entire new careers and communities — landing on a shared resolve to move from awareness to action. THE NAT carries the ocean’s cause forward to New York, where the 2026 NAT GALA is themed ‘Water is Life.’

Speakers included:

• Dr Sylvia Earle — Mission Blue
• George Duffield — Blue Marine Foundation
• Ashok Adiceam — UNOC / Mission Neptune
• Sophie Hunter — Artist
• Titouan Bernicot — Coral Gardeners
• Gail Gallie — THE NAT

Convening Partners: Blue Marine Foundation, Mercuria, Six Senses

Joe Short