Transatlantic cooperation is essential to environmental protection and to the future of our planet. As president of the G20 and co-partner of COP26, Italy stands ready to work with the United States and the world in promoting an ambitious international agenda on climate change and environmental protection. In the week of World Water Day, we focus on the importance of protecting oceans and on our fruitful bilateral collaboration in this field.” With these words Ambassador of Italy to the United States, Armando Varricchio, opened today’s webinar “Protecting Oceans and Marine Life” organized by the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington DC.
The event, opened also with remarks by Nicole LeBoeuf, Acting Assistant Administrator for the National Ocean Service of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), provided the opportunity for a discussion between Italian and US experts engaged in different ways in safeguarding the seas and the life forms that inhabit them and that are at risk for the most diverse reasons, from pollution to global warming, from uncontrolled fishing to international trafficking.
Inspired by two recent National Geographic documentaries, Michele Melani’s “Ocean’s Breath” and Richard Ladkani’s “Sea of Shadows,” the panel involved the protagonists of these films: geologist Federico Fanti and robotic engineer Grace Young, Earth League International executive director Andrea Crosta, and national marine mammal foundation executive director Cynthia Smith. The debate, organized in collaboration with National Geographic, was moderated by Valerie Craig, Interim Chief of the Science and Innovation Office of National Geographic.
