{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Our Ocean to Save: Emily Cunningham on Protecting Our Greatest Climate Ally","description":"Ask most people what the lungs of the planet are, and they'll say forests. Marine biologist Emily Cunningham would point you to phytoplankton: tiny drifting algae that produce about half the oxygen made on Earth. That gap between what the ocean does for us and what we think it does is why she wrote her first book. Our Ocean to Save: How to Protect Our Greatest Climate Ally is Emily's answer to the question she hears more than any other: "What can I do to help the ocean?" Not a list of don'ts, but a hopeful, practical guide for anyone, anywhere. In this episode, Emily tells Andrew how a manatee CD-ROM game turned a landlocked kid from Staffordshire into a marine biologist, how a viral Twitter thread from Antarctica led to a book deal, and why she started seeing ocean threats as symptoms of bigger social problems after volunteering with a community-led turtle project in Sri Lanka. She explains shifting baselines in plain language, how she went from restoration skeptic to convert, why hope is a verb, and why research suggests we only need about one in four people on board to change what society expects. And she shares how Motion for the Ocean, the local government ocean recovery declaration she co-founded, has been passed by more than 40 councils across the UK, and how you can bring it to your own town, even if you live by a lake. Links mentioned in this episode Our Ocean to Save (North America), Chelsea Green: https:\/\/www.chelseagreen.com\/?p=2121059 Our Ocean to Save (UK), Pan Macmillan: https:\/\/www.panmacmillan.com\/authors\/emily-cunningham\/our-ocean-to-save\/9781035065271 Motion for the Ocean: https:\/\/oceanconservationtrust.org\/project\/the-motion-for-the-ocean\/ Emily Cunningham: https:\/\/emilycunningham.co.uk Emily on Instagram: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/marinebiologylife Billion Oyster Project: https:\/\/www.billionoysterproject.org Last week's episodes on Tofino and the plastics treaty (2059, 2061):  Tofino Plastic episode: https:\/\/www.speakupforblue.com\/show\/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue\/podcast-245\/ Plastic Treaty episode: https:\/\/www.speakupforblue.com\/show\/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue\/podcast-247\/ Andrew's earlier interview with Emily, recorded in Malaysia: https:\/\/www.speakupforblue.com\/show\/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue\/reaching-out-to-politicians-and-international-adaptation-of-motion4theocean\/ Takeaways The ocean is a climate ally: phytoplankton produce about half of Earth's oxygen and the ocean absorbs huge amounts of heat and carbon People do care about the ocean; what's missing is a clear, positive path to action Shifting baselines hide how much abundance we've lost, so imagine the ocean you want, not just the one you know Let yourself grieve, then channel that feeling into action with other people Many ocean threats are symptoms of poverty and injustice; conservation works best with communities in the driving seat Restoration isn't a substitute for tackling causes, but it's a powerful way to bring new people in Your action: ask your local council to pass a Motion for the Ocean, or set a calendar reminder to follow through on your own ocean action ","author_name":"How To Protect The Ocean","author_url":"https:\/\/www.speakupforblue.com\/show\/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue\/","html":"