In order to inform, train, advise and engage, we work to enrich law, science and policy know-how amongst public and private actors, and engage in public outreach.
ACOPS works within a diverse network of internationally recognised specialists who cover a large diversity of marine environmental issues from different areas of knowledge such as marine policy, fisheries sciences, oceanography, ecotoxicology, marine biology and ecology, political sciences, economics, anthropology and the law of the sea. They provide a solid basis to the multidisciplinary, trans-sectoral, cooperative approach encouraged by ACOPS. Our tight-knit group of associates, network of specialists, and institutional friends connect and are connected by a shared concern for our seas.
ACOPS receives its funding from these selfsame friends, including foundations, governmental and intergovernmental institutions, companies, private individuals and other entities.
More specifically, ACOPS objectives are:
To inform on and where possible contribute to research, quantification and understanding of root causes of marine pollution and associated issues and processes. This includes informing relevant stakeholders on the impact of human activities on our seas and oceans (e.g. pollution from marine plastics, melting sea ice, underwater noise, seabed mining and marine geoengineering) and the rationale and importance of an ecosystem-based approach to management and the effective protection of sensitive areas and threatened species;
To train young and senior professionals, who contribute or aspire to contribute to the protection of the marine environment, to the development of marine environmental environmental policies in intergovernmental bodies;
To advise on the preservation of the seas and oceans from pollution and degradation by human activities and other processes on the basis of international environmental law and sound science; and,
To engage within our specialised network on these topics and envisage sustainable paths forward. This also involves bringing members from academic research into the reality of specific questions considered by intergovernmental processes to inform the development of future research.