WOC calls on business community to identify polar research priorities

The business community has the opportunity to provide input to the survey of research priorities conducted by a European scientific consortium (EU-PolarNet) regarding polar regions. The survey will answer the questions: How will polar changes affect business activities? How can future research assist in solving potential challenges?

The World Ocean Council (WOC) is encouraging ocean industries to participate in the survey to outline polar issues and drive research.

As polar regions change, such as sea ice reductions and permafrost thawing, new opportunities and challenges are emerging, especially in areas that previously were inaccessible for economic activities. WOC believes the business community’s inputs are critical to identifying priorities and to improving the understanding, modelling and predicting of conditions in these areas.

By identifying the most pressing issues in the polar regions relevant to the industries operating in the high latitudes, this survey aims to identify the challenges and opportunities to be addressed by future research. White papers produced from this survey will provide the European Commission with recommendations on the issues needing further investigation and decision-making.

Please follow this link to participate in the survey: www.eu-polarnet.eu/project-themes/polar-research-for-science-and-society/public-consultation-on-research-priorities


Alex Baird

Alex Baird is the Managing Director of Baird Maritime