Who we are
The 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
Mark Abbott
President and Director, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA
Grethel Aguilar
Acting Director-General, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Inger Andersen
Executive Director, UN Environment Programme
Thomas Thune Andersen
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Lloyd’s Register, United Kingdom
Marc R. Benioff
Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Salesforce, USA
Dona Bertarelli
conservationist and philanthropist, Switzerland
Richard Branson
Founder, Virgin Group, United Kingdom
Maria Damanaki
Global Managing Director for Oceans, Nature Conservancy, USA
Jeremy Darroch
Chief Executive Officer, Sky Plc, United Kingdom
Patricia Dwyer
Founder and Director, The Purpose Business, Hong Kong SAR
Sylvia Earle
President and Chairman, Mission Blue, USA
Patricia Espinosa Cantellano
Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Germany
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
Sturla Henriksen
Special Advisor on the Ocean to the UN Global Compact, Norway
Anson H. Hines
Director, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, USA
Svein Tore Holsether
President and Chief Executive Officer, Yara International, Norway
Rupert Howes
Chief Executive Officer, Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), United Kingdom
Naoko Ishii
Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility, USA
Nina Jensen
Chief Executive Officer, 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
Michael W. Lodge
Secretary General, International Sea Bed Authority, Jamaica
Jane Lubchenco
Distinguished University Professor and Marine Studies Advisor to the President, Oregon State University, USA
Jørgen J. Lund
Managing Director, North Atlantic Seafood Forum, Norway
Ellen MacArthur
Founder and Chair, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, United Kingdom
Kenneth MacLeod
Chairman, Stena, United Kingdom
Àrni Mathiesen
Assistant Director General Fisheries and Aquaculture, Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN, Italy
H.M. Queen Noor
Ocean Elder, Jordan
Cherie Nursalim
Vice-Chairman, GITI Group, Indonesia
Julie Packard
Executive Director, Monterey Bay Aquarium, USA
Cristiana Pașca Palmer
Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, UN Assistant Secretary-General, Montreal
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
Vladimir Ryabinin
Secretary and Assistant Director General, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, France
Enric Sala
Explorer-in-Residence, National Geographic Society, USA
M. Sanjayan
Chief Executive Officer, Conservation International, USA
Afroz Shah
Counsel, Bombay High Court, Champion of Earth, United Nations, 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), New York
Gunhild Stordalen
Founder and Executive Chair, EAT Foundation, Norway
Anote Tong
Former President of Kiribati
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
Wu Hougang
Chairman and President, Zoneco Group, People's Republic of China