Who we are
Friends of Ocean Action is a coalition of over 70 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 and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs of the United Kingdom. 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
Former 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
Aniruddha Dasgupta
President and CEO, World Resources Institute, England
Sylvia Earle
President and Chairman, Mission Blue, USA
Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Echandi
CEO and Chair, Global Environment Facility, Costa Rica
Minna Epps
Director, Global Marine and Polar Programme, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Switzerland
Patricia Espinosa Cantellano
Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Mexico
Danny Faure
Former President of the Seychelles and African Union Champion on the Blue Economy
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 Thienemann
Vice-Chairman & Chief Sustainability Officer, 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 (GIB) Asset Management, UK
GUO Jingjing
Olympic diving champion; Ambassador, Key Connect; Ocean Program Director, Global Green Technology Center (GGTC); China
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
Marco Lambertini
Director General, WWF International, Switzerland
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
Jørgen J. Lund
Founder and Director, North Atlantic Seafood Forum (NASF), Norway
Àrni Mathiesen
Senior Adviser, Iceland Ocean Cluster; Chairman of the Board, Better Transport, Iceland
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
Jennifer Morris
CEO, The Nature Conservancy, USA
Barkha Mossae
Blue Economy Advisor, African Union Commission, Mauritius
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema
Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity, Tanzania
Razan Al Mubarak
President, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); Managing Director, Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, UAE
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
Tiago Pitta e Cunha
Chief Executive Officer, Oceano Azul Foundation, Portugal
H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco
Monaco
H.M. Queen Noor
Ocean Elder, Jordan
James Quincey
President and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company, USA
Rolly van Rappard
Co-Founder and Co-Chair, CVC, the Netherlands
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
President, The Schmidt Family Foundation and Co-Founder, Schmidt Ocean Institute, USA
Afroz Shah
Counsel, Bombay High Court, Champion of Earth, United Nations, India
SHEN Guojun
Founder and Chairman of Yintai Group; Board Member of The Paradise International Foundation, China
Erna Solberg
Former Prime Minister of Norway, UN’s SDG Advocates Co-Chair
Andrew Steer
President, Bezos Earth Fund, USA
Achim Steiner
Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Brazil/Germany
SU Jilan
Professor of Oceanography, Academician, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Gunhild Stordalen
Founder and Executive Chairman, EAT Foundation, Norway
Atsushi Sunami
President, Sasakawa Peace Foundation and Ocean Policy Research Institute, Japan
John Tanzer
Ocean Champion, 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
WANG Songlin
Founder and President, Qingdao Marine Conservation Society, China