IMBeR at the Global Ocean Summit 2018 in Qingdao, China

The Global Ocean Summit 2018 (GOS 2018) was organised by the Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Thchnology (QNLM) at Oceantec Valley, Qingdao from 3-5 July 2018, with the aim of enhancing partnerships on ocean observations and research. The Department of Science and Technology of Shandong Province and the Science/American Association for the Advancement of Science co-hosted the event. GOS 2018 was attended by over 150 delegates including leaders and scientists from 118 marine-related institutions and universities, from 24 countries representing Asia, North America, Oceania, Europe and Africa, as well as delegates from five international organisations/programmes.

In the spirt of the summit Declaration from the previous meeting in 2016, the theme of GOS 2018 was “Building the Partnerships on Ocean Observation and Research”, and focused on four topics: (1) ocean observation and prediction, (2) deep-sea research, (3) polar seas research and (4) ocean sustainability. In a keynote address, Dr. WU Lixin, Director of QNLM, academician of the Chinese Academy of Science, highlighted six challenges to sustainable ocean development in the 21^st century, including multi-scale ocean energy and elements circulation, ocean under climate change, polar oceans, marine resource development, marine ecology, and ocean observations and prediction. To address and resolve these challenges and for the sake of future generations, Dr. WU appealed to the global marine community to strengthen collaboration on ocean observations, research and education through interactions and exchanges. Deepening systematic understanding of the ocean to tackle these global challenges is a mission shared by the world’s marine institutions and universities.