Who we are
Friends of Ocean Action is a coalition of over 50 ocean leaders who are fast-tracking solutions to the most pressing challenges facing the ocean. Its members – the Friends – come from business, civil society, international organizations, science and technology.
This community is supported by funding from Marc and Lynne Benioff as part of the Benioff Ocean Initiative at the University of California Santa Barbara. It is convened by the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with the World Resources Institute.
Co-Chairs
Peter Thomson
UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean
Isabella Lövin
Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden
Friends of Ocean Action members
Diva Amon
Founder and Director, SpeSeas, Trinidad and Tobago
Inger Andersen
Executive Director, UN Environment Programme, Denmark
Thomas Thune Andersen
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Lloyd’s Register, UK
Marc R. Benioff
Chairman and CEO, Salesforce, USA
Claes Berglund
Director, Public Affairs and Sustainability, Stena, Sweden
Dona Bertarelli
Special Advisor for the Blue Economy, UNCTAD, Switzerland
Richard Branson
Founder, Virgin Group, UK
Maria Damanaki
Principal Advisor, SYSTEMIQ, UK; Principal Advisor, The Paradise International Foundation, China
Jeremy Darroch
CEO, Sky Plc, UK
Sylvia Earle
President and Chairman, Mission Blue, USA
Patricia Espinosa Cantellano
Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Mexico
Daniela V. Fernandez
Founder & CEO, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, USA
José María Figueres
Former President of Costa Rica; Former Co-Chair, Global Ocean Commission; Co-Founder, Ocean Unite
Gloria Fluxà
Vice-Chairman & Executive Board Member, Iberostar Group, Spain
Andrew Forrest
Chairman, Minderoo Foundation, Australia
Kerstin S. Forsberg
Co-Founder and Director, Planeta Océano, Peru
Katherine Garrett-Cox
CEO, Gulf International Bank, UK
Wakao Hanaoka
Founder and CEO, Seafood Legacy, Japan
Bill Hilf
CEO and Chairman, Vulcan Inc., USA
Anson H. Hines
Director, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, USA
Svein Tore Holsether
President and CEO, Yara International, Norway
Rupert Howes
CEO, Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), UK
Naoko Ishii
Professor and Director, Center for Global Commons, University of Tokyo, Japan
Nina Jensen
CEO, REV Ocean, Norway
Ronald Jumeau
UN Ambassador for Climate Change and Small Island Developing State Issues of the Republic of Seychelles
Pascal Lamy
President Emeritus, Jacques Delors Institute, France
Kosi Latu
Director-General, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Samoa
Jim Leape
Co-Director, Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, USA
Laura Liswood
Secretary General, Council of Women World Leaders, USA
Jane Lubchenco
Distinguished University Professor and Marine Studies Advisor to the President, Oregon State University, USA
Jørgen J. Lund
Founder and Director, North Atlantic Seafood Forum (NASF), Norway
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema
Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity, Tanzania
Àrni Mathiesen
Assistant Director General Fisheries and Aquaculture, Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN, Italy
Douglas McCauley
Professor, University of California Santa Barbara; Director, Benioff Ocean Initiative, USA
Peter de Menocal
President and Director, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA
Stuart Minchin
Director-General, Pacific Community (SPC), Australia
Barkha Mossae
Second Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Government of Mauritius
Jennifer Morris
CEO, The Nature Conservancy, USA
Razan Al Mubarak
Managing Director, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD), UAE
H.M. Queen Noor
Ocean Elder, Jordan
Cherie Nursalim
Vice-Chairman, GITI Group, Indonesia
Sanda Ojiambo
CEO and Executive Director, UN Global Compact, Kenya
Julie Packard
Executive Director, Monterey Bay Aquarium, USA
Elsa Palanza
Global Head of Sustainability, Barclays, USA
Rolph Payet
Executive Secretary, Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, Switzerland
H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco
Monaco
James Quincey
President and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company, USA
Rolly van Rappard
Co-Founder and Co-Chair, CVC, the Netherlands
Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Echandi
CEO and Chair, Global Environment Facility, Costa Rica
Vladimir Ryabinin
Executive Secretary, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and Assistant Director General, UNESCO, France
Enric Sala
Explorer-in-Residence, National Geographic Society, USA
M. Sanjayan
CEO, Conservation International, USA
Wendy Schmidt
Founder, Schmidt Family Foundation, USA
Afroz Shah
Counsel, Bombay High Court; Champion of the Earth, UN Environment, India
Erna Solberg
Prime Minister of Norway, UN’s SDG Advocates Co-Chair
Andrew Steer
President, World Resources Institute, USA
Achim Steiner
Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Brazil/Germany
Gunhild Stordalen
Founder and Executive Chairman, EAT Foundation, Norway
SU Jilan
Professor of Oceanography, Academician, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Atsushi Sunami
President, Ocean Policy Research Institute; Executive Director, Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan
John Tanzer
Global Ocean Practice Leader, WWF International, Australia
Asha de Vos
Founder and Executive Director, Oceanswell, Sri Lanka
Judi Wakhungu
Ambassador of Kenya to France, Portugal, Serbia and The Holy See
Jan-Gunnar Winther
Director, National Center of Ocean and the Arctic, Norway