Visit to Nice: The Economist World Ocean Initiative and HUB Ocean Panel

Good afternoon everyone,

It’s my great pleasure to be a part of this session, where ocean data takes centre stage.

I always enjoy reading the annual Economist publication The World Ahead. For 2025, there were – once again – many interesting predictions, written by knowledgeable editors, journalists and researchers. I would like to thank The Economist for its contributions, which encourage reflection and enhance insight based on facts and science. Your work is more important than ever.

One article in particular stands out: Wild Cards – a selection of ten unbelievable-sounding things that could happen in 2025. Two of them being A sports tournament encourages doping – and Animals get their own bank account.

As we have already seen, 2025 is full of surprises– and we don’t know what lies ahead.

This is where today’s topic – ocean data – comes in. Because we are not talking about wild cards here. We are talking about data. And facts.

And most importantly: data and facts that are reliable and available.

UN reports show that the rise in global temperature and associated ecological changes are having a severe impact on the oceans. The good news is that ocean data can help us to develop the solutions needed to remedy the situation.

We need to ensure a balance between different uses of the ocean without sacrificing ocean health.  Not only at the national level, but also at the regional and global levels.

And – just as importantly – we need to share our data and our knowledge, and make sure it is used.

Norway invests in ocean data compilation and participates in almost all international infrastructures in the field. But like the UN and the EU, Norway recognises that building the necessary knowledge base, and collecting and disseminating data, are not tasks that the public sector can or should do on its own.

Private initiatives also have an important role to play.

While the ocean economy generates vast amounts of data, much of it remains fragmented and underused. And this is a missed opportunity. 

Today’s session brings together leaders across sectors. In science as well as in business, data is the link between action and impact.

So we must make sure that we use it. We must put the data to work — to protect nature, increase prosperity, and to ensure that that our oceans remain a source of life for generations to come. 

Thank you.