By Mary Ma
On Thursday, February 20th, LSESU Marine Society held its Blue New Deal launch event. The event was aimed at discussing potential solutions for current marine issues and is a part of the greater Blue New Deal Project.
The Project will consist of a series of activities over the coming months. Topics of interest include: overfishing, waste recycling and sustainability, especially with regards to what LSE can do. The policy consultations were sparked in part by LSESU’s declaration of a climate emergency last year.
Julius Koschnick, Marine Society treasurer, described the Blue New Deal Project as “A think tank for the ocean, on the ocean.” The Marine Society wants to encourage greater application of social sciences to help understand the economic and political obstacles faced in solving environmental issues. Their aim is to provide practical policy recommendations by drawing on the unique backgrounds and opinions of LSE’s international and domestic student base.
The society expects to produce a research log by May and to publish a clear manifesto and policy paper entitled the Blue New Deal by the following year.
Grace Chapman, Marine Society president, told The Beaver: “We are the people who will be truly affected by global heating and truly affected if we don’t change things now. A Blue New Deal is a matter of survival.” She added that students should give voice to issues close to their hearts.
