MOMBASA, Kenya, June 11, 2026 — The 11th Our Ocean Conference, taking place June 16-18 in Mombasa, will bring together heads of state, high-level officials, and civil society representatives, including Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) experts, around a shared goal: protecting and conserving the ocean.
The conference offers a key opportunity for governments to realize that achieving a healthy and prosperous ocean means confronting the drivers of ocean harm, including offshore oil and gas, risky geoengineering interventions, and plastic pollution. CIEL experts are available to comment on these issues and the conference.
As the first Our Ocean Conference to be held in Africa, this year’s gathering raises the stakes for addressing fossil fuels head-on. The continent is on the frontlines of the climate crisis and faces growing pressure from offshore oil and gas expansion. Research shows that every stage of offshore oil and gas activity deepens the climate crisis, pollutes marine environments, and threatens the ocean systems on which all life depends. Protecting the ocean from the harms of fossil fuels is not only urgent; it is also required under international law.
The ocean is also increasingly being targeted for highly speculative marine geoengineering technologies, despite longstanding international precautionary restrictions. Civil society organizations are calling on governments to prohibit open-water experiments and to uphold and strengthen the existing restrictive governance frameworks on geoengineering.
CIEL Experts at the Our Ocean Conference
Bruna Campos, Senior Campaigner on Offshore Oil and Gas. Follow Bruna on LinkedIn and BlueSky.
Mary Church, Geoengineering Campaign Manager, specializing in countering speculative fossil fuel “escape hatches,” including solar and marine geoengineering, and their risks. Follow Mary on BlueSky and LinkedIn.
Media Contacts
Niccolò Sarno, CIEL Media Relations (Geneva): [email protected] +41-22-5068037
Cate Bonacini, CIEL Communications Specialist (Washington, DC): [email protected] +1-510-520-9109
Resources
Short brief on the harms of offshore oil and gas to ocean biodiversity: Seasick: The Turbulent Impact of Offshore Oil and Gas on Ocean Biodiversity and Coastal Livelihoods
5-part series of briefs on the dangers of offshore oil and gas: Offshore, Off-Limits: Making Oceans Off-Limits to Offshore Oil and Gas