Grantee Spotlight: UK Hub
SOA UK brought the ocean to London Climate Action Week — with blue carbon education, a community mural, and an evening summit for 80 climate leaders.
Jul 31, 2026
In late June during a heatwave in London, Nancy Cross and a small team of leaders from SOA’s UK Hub hauled a giant mural into Soho Square and set up under the heat. They laid out seagrass and kelp for people to handle and invited passersby to add to the mural as the day went on.
This was the first year London Climate Action Week ran a dedicated Ocean Hub, which featured SOA UK's event. The week has historically focused on emissions and energy, but this year’s summit placed the ocean at the center of climate discussions.
What the Ocean Holds
SOA leaders educated visitors about seagrass and kelp, explaining how habitats like these pull carbon out of the water and lock it into the seabed, which makes protecting them one of the most direct ways to facilitate the ocean’s ability to slow global warming. SOA UK’s booth at the conference gave visitors a chance to hold that carbon store in their hands and understand the implications of failing to protect it.
The SOA team brought the sea to Soho Square with a giant ocean-themed paint-by-numbers for attendees to complete throughout the event. Attendees filled in the mural throughout the day while the team explained the ecosystem featured in the art and its relevance to our climate. The finished piece was featured in a local TV segment, and SOA UK looks forward to publicly exhibiting the artwork after the event.
The Ocean-Climate Nexus
That night, 80 climate professionals, policymakers, and activists gathered for the Ocean-Climate Nexus. Three panels covered ocean governance, blue carbon, offshore renewables, deep sea mining, and new technologies for ocean and climate action.
SOA co-funded the event with a local UK sponsor. A short film documenting the event will soon be distributed across SOA’s channelse...
Beyond Soho Square
The mural from Soho Square is scheduled to be put on public display, where it will reach Londoners far beyond the original event attendees. As the night ended, Nancy Cross left the audience with a call to action: “Let’s protect our ocean together.”
With support from SOA, the SOA UK Hub placed the ocean at the center of discussions at London Climate Action Week.
UK Hub Leaders
Alexandre Augusto da Silva
Hub Leader at SOA UK
Nancy Cross is marine scientist, consultant, and SOA UK Hub Leader co-hosting this event. She founded C-marine to deliver support across marine science, policy and advocacy, with a focus on the ocean-climate-biodiversity nexus. Her recent research on climate-smart marine spatial planning won the Calypso Prize from the Cousteau Foundation. She's also a surfer, rescue diver, and AIDA 2 freediver.
Giovanna Scagnolatto
Hub Leader at SOA UK
Conor Savage is a marine scientist, sustainable finance leader, and elected Councillor. He headed up sustainability for one of the UK's banks, holds an academic background in marine biology with a focus on climate change impacts in the Arctic, and was recently appointed to both the UK National Decade Committee and the European Ocean Board. He also chairs the Arctic Youth Network and sits on the Oversight Committee of ARIA's Forecasting Tipping Points Programme.
Mark Joseph Laceste
Hub Leader at SOA UK
Mark Laceste is the founder of Lalakbayin Ecoventures in Palawan, Philippines, and SOA UK Hub Leader co-hosting this event. His work connects coastal communities to marine conservation through sustainable tourism. He's a Philippine Youth Ambassador to the Coral Triangle Initiative and currently completing his master's at UCL as a Chevening Scholar.
