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A handful of companies are rushing to open the deep-sea to mining. We know deep-sea mining will cause irreversible harm to deep-sea habitats and risks disturbing locked-away carbon. This video includes leaked footage from test mining in the Pacific in late 2022, revealing the damage deep-sea mining will have to life in the ocean. Scratching only the surface of the true cost this reckless industry will have if allowed to go ahead!
Share this video! Say no to deep-sea mining. #theoceanandus #women4oceans #together4oceans #wecandobetter #circulareconomy #techforgood #nodeepseamining #ocean #leaked
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As we wrap up the year I thought it would be good to share and celebrate our achievements of 2022, to reflect on some of the challenges we have had, and to start thinking about our goals for 2023.
Highlights: - I submitted the manuscript for our book The Ocean and Us at the start of June. After over two years of bringing together and editing the book, it is finally with the publisher with a release date of January 17th (although, see challenges...). Thank you to all who contributed! - We have a publicist for The Ocean and Us. Our book is a Popular Science title, and will be promoted universally through an experienced PR firm! - I worked with a lovely and esteemed group of colleagues via the Stockholm Resilience Centre to envision scenarios for the future of the High Seas. This has culminated in a paper which will hopefully be published in 2023. - The film In Too Deep (which I initiated and co-produced) for the DSCC received many accolades this year! It was the first film of its kind to talk about the threats of deep-sea mining. - Together with the EU4Ocean Coalition (for which I am the campaign advisor) we launched the #MakeEUBlue Campaign. - I / Women4Oceans was one of 4 NGOs invited to speak in the session on UNCLOS at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon in June. I chose to dedicate my intervention to the urgent need to stop deep-sea mining in its tracks. -Women4Oceans is a part of two consortiums tendering for separate projects funded by the EU aimed at achieving gender equality and fair representation in the ocean space. We are hopeful that at least one of these projects will be awarded. - My / W4O's work on deep-sea mining was recognised by EarthPercent, a foundation working with the music industry to support groups tackling the climate and biodiversity crisis. I am so thankful for their support! Challenges: - It was a tremendous challenge to get the manuscript for The Ocean and Us over the finish line. I am still anxious about the book. It has been over 7 months since submission and I had hoped that we would have a book to promote by the Holiday Season. - More of a lesson. I need to get better at coming up for myself and ensuring that I am properly credited for the work that I do. It might sound trivial but recognition allows us to grow. (If you don't do it, no one else will do this for you). - Whilst I consider myself to have a global network of friends and colleagues in the ocean space, I work on my own and this means it is a very lonely journey at times. Goals: My thoughts aren't fully formed yet! - I will continue campaigning on the dangers of deep-sea mining. - I am going to think about where I want to take Women4Oceans next and how I can continue to lift people in the ocean space. - I am going to try raise more funds for the work that we do. I wish more foundations would recognise that small groups and individuals can be very powerful agents of change. We are not bound by bureaucracy or internal dynamics. We are flexible and passionate. We get things done. - I am going to try and fret less about the things I cannot control (like the climate crisis). I can only do what is in my own power to do. Finally, whilst each year continues to bring more uncertainty in terms of the unfolding climate catastrophe, the accelerating loss of wildlife, and this year the war in Ukraine, energy crisis, and so much more... I am so grateful for every opportunity I have been given in 2022, both professionally and personally. I hope 2023 will bring peace. I hope we move towards each other, take the time to listen to one another, and build more tolerance for our differences. If we don't, we will fail our planet, the beautiful beings that live here, and ourselves. We are one people traveling on the same Ocean Planet. See you in 2023! Farah 
In the dunes along the Dutch coast.
Season's Greetings! Here's a short interview I did at the ENLIT Europe energy conference earlier this month. It was a wonderful experience to engage with new audiences. One company I met with has already approached us to sign the pledge in support of a moratorium on deep-sea mining and committing not to source minerals from the deep-sea! Will your company be next? noseabedmining.org
Together we can stop a disaster from starting! #women4oceans #together4oceans #theoceanandus #energytransition #circulareconomy #nodeepseamining From the ENLIT website: In an exclusive interview at Enlit Europe 2022, Pamela Largue speaks to Farah Obaidullah of Women4Oceans about the threats to our oceans, how to mitigate them and why the energy transition and blue economy work hand in hand. According to Obaidullah, we cannot address the climate and energy issues without addressing the ocean issues and one of the biggest issues threatening the health of our oceans is deep sea mining. Companies are looking to extract minerals required for the energy transition from 4-6km below the ocean floor. The process will see the sea floor strip-mined for mineral nodules, destroying habitat and reintroducing stored carbon back into the atmosphere, potentially with dire consequences. I am super excited and proud to announce our partnership with EarthPercent, a leading charity working to unleash the power of music in service of the planet. Traditional philanthropy unfortunately travels in the same circles and it's been difficult to break that mould - even with an almost 20 year proven track record in ocean conservation. Thank you EarthPercent for seeing us and valuing our impact in the ocean space. EarthPercent's support of my work with Women4Oceans will go towards protecting the ocean, a critical carbon sink, and us from the emerging threat of deep-sea mining. Join us! We need you. Follow our work, sign up to our newsletter, support our work to protect the ocean and us! Together we can stop a disaster before it starts! For the Ocean and Us - Farah Obaidullah #unleashthepowerofmusic #women4oceans #together4oceans #theoceanandus #earthpercent #ocean #philanthropy #daretobedifferent  Last week (30 November 2022) I spoke at the Enlit Europe energy conference in Frankfurt on why we should not mine the deep-sea and why we don’t need to! Electric vehicle and tech companies already pledge their support for a moratorium on deep-sea mining (see here). It's now time for the energy sector to get vocal against deep-sea mining! It was such a great experience to be immersed in discussions around energy security and the future of energy, and to be surrounded by people working in an entirely different field to my own! I learned a lot and the feedback from delegates was that they learned a lot too! We can't allow deep-sea mining to happen let alone go unnoticed! I am also excited to work with filmmaker & investigative journalist Quentin Noirfalisse and his team to bring this issue to a wider audience! Support our work! - Farah Obaidullah, Ocean Advocate & Founder Women4Oceans #DefendTheDeep #Women4Oceans #Together4Oceans     You love your gadgets right? So do we! Where would we be without our phones, appliances and transport? But nobody wants a gadget or car, or use public transit that is tainted with ocean destruction! Women4Oceans is campaigning to ensure that deep-sea mining isn’t allowed to go ahead, and that instead we have a green, clean and just transition away from fossil fuels. With your help we can ensure that the transition economy does not come at the expense of the ocean and the very systems that sustain us! The good news is we don’t need minerals from the deep ocean. Many leading tech & EV companies are already showing the way. We are a small yet high-impact global NGO. We do not have a department dedicated to fundraising. We rely on individual donations to help us deliver wins for the ocean. Please consider supporting our work. #stayengaged #getinspired #women4oceans #together4oceans #theoceanandus #perspectivesmatter #electricrevolution #circulareconomy #protecttheoceans 
Ravenna, Italy, May 2022. Check out this interview with Farah Obaidullah, Founder of Women4Oceans and campaign consultant to the EU4Ocean Coalition. In this interview Farah discusses the #MakeEUBlue campaign, gender equality in the ocean space, and the upcoming book: The Ocean and Us, with Italian ocean advocate and T.V. presenter Mariasole Bianco.
#Getinspired #OceanLiteracy #EU4Ocean #Women4Oceans #Together4Oceans #TheOceanandUs With everything going on, re: climate crisis, war, cost of living and so much more, the news that the UN treaty negotiations designed to protect life on the High Seas / our Global Commons, failed to conclude last month, barely made any headlines at all. The High Seas make up two thirds of the ocean... that translates to almost half our planet! Protecting this vast area must be a priority if we want to save ourselves from the climate crisis and biodiversity collapse... As I said in this interview for ENDS Europe "We cannot afford a treaty that lacks ambition. And we cannot afford any further delay in securing this treaty." - Farah Obaidullah, Founder Women4Oceans Read more by clicking on the image below. #women4oceans #together4oceans #ocean #conservation #highseas #BBNJ #sdg14 #leadership  I'd like to share a proud moment. I have worked to protect our oceans for almost twenty years now - and my passion for the ocean extends far beyond that. In all these years, I have addressed the UN on several occasions on different issues affecting the ocean, from deep-sea bottom trawling to illegal fishing and the need to protect the High Seas. I have done so on behalf of well-established and well-funded NGOs. In 2017 I set up Women4Oceans as a reaction to what I was witnessing (and experiencing) in the ocean space. W4O has been growing organically since then with some 5000 women joining the network, including hundreds of ocean professionals in our directory. I am only able to dedicate my free time to it. I have no comms, PR or fundraising support. It has been, and continues to be a long road to gain recognition for all the work that goes into it. However, as I returned from the UN Ocean Conference last week, feeling exhilarated and somewhat down at the same time, I had to pause and remind myself of my achievements. Despite a complete lack of substantial funding, and only incidental volunteer support, I have elevated recognition for women in the ocean space by speaking on behalf of my organisation at numerous events from the World Ocean Summit, to a UN Symposium on Fish Crimes, and from the Blue Vision Summit to the Extreme Hangout at Cop26 in Glasgow. The invitations are too many to write here. I speak to reporters and institutions about the importance of diversifying the voices that go into shaping our relationship with the ocean, about the importance of lifting each other up. I speak about the various threats facing the ocean, and how critical it is to engage everyone. I speak about my campaigning efforts to win crucial gains in ocean conservation. I felt exhilarated last week because of the energy of the conference and the momentum that is building to stop deep-sea mining from happening. At the same time I felt somewhat down. Despite delivering a powerful statement to the UN on the need to give back hope to the people by stopping a disaster from happening (deep-sea mining), I did not have a team to celebrate with, and even for a moment felt invisible to the established NGOs fighting the same fight. But as I pause to think about how far I have come with Women4Oceans, I am proud to note that Women4Oceans was one of only four NGOs allowed to speak in the Interactive Dialogue on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For a small NGO, I think we are making big waves! I can only imagine what is possible with funding. The point I am making to myself and to anyone reading this is: Don't give up. Sometimes all you need is your own validation to keep going! - Farah Obaidullah Read full statement to the UN here. #dontgiveup #proudmoment #unoceanconference2022 #women4oceans #together4oceans #ocean #love  Farah Obaidullah speaking on behalf of Women4Oceans at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, 30 June, 2022. Photo by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth It has been a wild week at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon. Specifically on deep-sea mining. Pacific Island Nations such as Palau, Fiji and Samoa have all come out in support of stopping deep-sea mining. Chile too, has called for a 15 year moratorium. And now President Macron of France joins the growing chorus rejecting deep-sea mining! Our campaign efforts seem to be coming to fruition. But we still have a long road ahead to stop this disaster from starting! See my statement on behalf of Women4Oceans delivered just before the announcement from France. - Farah Obaidullah Women4Oceans #defendthedeep #UNOC22 #women4oceans #together4oceans #circulareconomy #SDG14 #ocean #hope #supportus at women4oceans.org  |
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