Article - March 27, 2019
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The ocean also provides millions of jobs, serves as a route for 90% of all global trade, and houses 2.2 million species of wildlife.
With greater awareness around the impacts of climate change, StormGeo has shifted from a company driven primarily by present, short-term insights to a future-focused organization.
Growing up in Jæren on the southwest coast of Norway, I have always been fascinated—and a little intimidated—by the ocean. As an oceanographer and Research Director at StormGeo, I study the sea to understand it; and the more I understand, the more respect I gain for it. Because of this, it was a proud moment when it was announced that StormGeo had been selected as a participant in the UN Global Compact Action Platform for Sustainable Ocean Business.
Launched at the UN headquarters in New York on World Ocean Day, 8 June 2018, the three-year Action Platform aims to advance the ocean’s economy and sustainability. The ocean is a massive contributor to all of life's well-being—as it contains 97% of all water, produces 50% of all oxygen and has absorbed 50% of all CO2 created by humans over the last 200 years. The ocean also provides millions of jobs, serves as a route for 90% of all global trade, and houses 2.2 million species of wildlife. All of this will be catastrophically affected if we fail to make changes now.
As an oceanographer, I’m delighted that StormGeo has recently become a participant with the United Nations Global Compact Action Platform for Sustainable Ocean Business.
As a company focused on decision support for weather sensitive operations, we have decades of knowledge, experience and data to contribute to efforts in ocean sustainability. StormGeo is out on the water every day—making real-time observations, reporting and gathering information. For example, our Metocean experts and Meteorologists survey currents, waves, temperature, salinity, turbidity, solar intensity and chlorophyll, as these parameters can greatly affect the operations of our clients in shipping, oil and gas and offshore wind. As a result, we possess a large amount of data on the oceans.
One example of this data is the reporting done on the vessels we route every day. The conditions they face provide a mine of information that forms an important foundation for scientific marine analysis. This data could be extremely helpful as a basis during discussions with the UN and other participants in the Global Compact.