Blue Pangolin Consulting was in Paris from 6 – 9 July 2026 for a week of engagement with the international waters and large marine ecosystems (LME) community, hosted around IW:LEARN’s 25th Annual Consultation Meeting on Large Marine Ecosystems and Coastal Partners (LME25) at UNESCO Headquarters. The meeting convened the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded marine portfolio alongside regional seas bodies, regional fisheries management organisations, international NGOs and partner institutions to take stock of progress and set future direction.
Continuing support for the early implementation of the BBNJ
The week opened on Monday 6 July with a technical dialogue on the governance and implementation of area-based management tools (ABMTs) in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), co-hosted by Francis and Tom with the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) at Sciences Po, ahead of LME25. We convened the session to support our ongoing mapping work on prospective ABMTs, drawing representatives of relevant legal instruments and bodies, intergovernmental organisations, non-governmental organisations and the scientific community into a shared conversation. It ran in two parts: a facilitated discussion informed by the mapping work, and a session led by IDDRI exploring management authority options for future high seas marine protected areas. We were pleased to bring together such a knowledgeable group for a constructive and forward-looking exchange, resulting in a highly productive and rich forward looking discussion.
Working with the LME Network
A central thread across the week was the relationship between the LME community and the wider ocean governance landscape. The LME approach has drawn well over one hundred countries into cooperation on shared marine ecosystems for three decades, supported by substantial GEF investment, and the network represents a considerable base of regional experience, data and institutional relationships.
LME25 focused on the community’s future direction, with sessions on a new strategy for LMEs, sustainable finance across the portfolio, and progress in project implementation. For Blue Pangolin Consulting, the value lay in the cross-cutting connections within the LME system, future institutional arrangements and interactions with other international frameworks: the LME and international waters network holds much of the regional knowledge, monitoring capability and coordination experience that effective marine management depends on, and these relationships are critical to support well-grounded work across our portfolio.
We were pleased to re-connect with existing friends and clients, and establish new relationships – we look forward to continuing to support the LME community during its future steps.
Data and information management
On 9 July, Tom contributed to the second Data and Information Management (DIM) workshop, which examined how data can be better connected, sustained and shared across the marine portfolio. Discussion reflected on an increasingly crowded data landscape and a clear need for stronger interoperability between systems; yet a recognition on the need to explore the use of AI within projects to fill resource gaps and address bottlenecks. Tom spoke in the session on artificial intelligence tools, drawing on his work as an editor of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network’s forthcoming Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025 report, and set out both the opportunities and the cautions in applying AI to coral reef monitoring, including the importance of shared standards, and building tools that are equitable and sustainable.
Significance and next steps
The week reinforced the importance of connecting emerging ocean governance work with the established international waters and LME community, whose regional reach and practical experience will matter greatly to the effective management of shared marine ecosystems in the years ahead. Blue Pangolin Consulting looks forward to continuing to work alongside these partners.
We are grateful to the IW:LEARN team for organising and hosting an excellent week, and to all those who took part in the discussions.
