Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Tokyo
14 – 16 November 2023
The G7 Future of the Seas and Ocean Initiative (G7 FSOI) Working Group meeting was held from 14 to 16 November 2023 under the Japanese G7 Presidency. The FSOI Working Group, created by the G7 in 2016, has been engaged in a wide variety of actions related to the promotion of ocean science and its contribution to society, including the strengthening of ocean observing systems. This meeting marked the full cycle of the G7 Presidency with exactly seven years since 2016.
The meeting took place at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in Tokyo. Day 1 of the meeting was organised in a workshop style, serving to discuss two new emerging issues of ‘Arctic Ocean Observing’ and ‘Marine Research Infrastructures Integration and Harmonization’ within the context of the ocean-climate-biodiversity nexus in the legacy of the 2022 G7 FSOI Working Group Berlin meeting.
Dr Yutaka Michida, Chair of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, Dr Joanna Post, Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) Director, and Dr Enrique Alvarez, Coordinator of the Decade Collaborative Centre on Ocean Prediction, shared their insights as guest speakers. Days 2 and 3 were dedicated to the business meeting, reviewing the progress of the topics of the G7 FSOI Work Plan 2023, with presentations by the leads on each topic and discussions. They included ‘Digital Twin Ocean Capability’, ‘OneArgo’, ‘Ocean Carbon’, ‘Augmented Observing and Forecasting for Marine Life’, ‘Global Ocean Monitoring Indicator Framework’, ‘World Ocean Assessment’, and ‘Governance, Coordination, and Sustained Funding for the Observing System’. Subsequently, the G7 FSOI Working Group members discussed the revision of the five Action Areas established seven years ago, and the development of the FSOI Work Plan and coordination arrangement for 2024.
This Working Group meeting was organised and financed by the Ocean and Earth Division of MEXT with significant support from the G7 FSOI Coordination Centre supported by the UK and the European Union.
