It is a pleasure to be with you, and I thank Deutsche Bank for convening this conference. The theme – Deep Currents – is well chosen.
And what we have heard so far, what we will continue to hear, the talent in this room – taken together they represent all the forces, from science and finance to people and politics, that are critical to the future of our one shared ocean.
I mention people deliberately. We can, and we must, have the technical conversations. But in the end, it all comes down to people.
The fisher repairing nets before dawn. The family watching the sea move closer to the graves of their ancestors. The fisher and the insurer grappling with the challenge of insuring boats that are destroyed every hurricane season. The entrepreneur creating clean energy from the tide.
The mother wondering whether the next storm will take her home, her school, her clinic and her…