Featured Speaker: José Guerreiro on Ocean Accounts for Deep Sea Marine Protected Areas – The Portuguese Experience

We are delighted to welcome José Guerreiro, President of the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), as a speaker at the Ocean Accounts 2030 side event. A marine biologist with a PhD in Ecology and Biosystematics, José Guerreiro is Aggregated Professor of Marine Sciences at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. His distinguished career includes serving as Secretary of State for the Environment, Director-General for the Environment, President of the Institute for Environmental Promotion, and President of the Portuguese Order of Biologists.

At the event, Professor Guerreiro will present “Ocean accounts for deep sea marine protected areas – the Portuguese experience”, highlighting Portugal’s leadership in the development of marine ecosystem accounts.

Portugal is one of the world’s largest maritime nations, with a maritime area exceeding 4 million km². Building on its pioneering efforts in the development of Ocean Satellite Accounts, Portugal is now taking a step forward by implementing marine ecosystem accounts in alignment with the latest European and international frameworks.
Ocean accounts integrate ecological, economic, and social data to inform sustainable ocean governance. They provide the evidence-base needed to support decision-making on marine and coastal planning and management, marine protected areas and restoration policies. IPMA is tasked with developing the methodology for ocean accounts. Integrated within the Oceanic Marine Protected Areas project, this initiative aims to develop ocean accounts for the entire Portuguese Maritime Space, with a pilot case study focused on the Gorringe Bank, an oceanic marine protected area.

Preliminary results include the development of extent and condition accounts and the identification of key marine ecosystem services. Next steps will focus on refining these accounts and strengthening national and international collaboration to support data-driven ocean policy.
Join us to learn how Portugal is turning data into action and advancing ocean sustainability through science-based policy and practice.

More info: https://www.ipma.pt/en/investigacao/destaque/cdem/