We are all ocean people, whether we live by the sea or not. The ocean sustains all life on our planet, and throughout time human interactions with the ocean have shaped our history and cultures. Beyond material goods and services, the ocean provides different forms of well-being, including cultural identity, knowledge, sense of place and belonging, and elicits human emotions such as curiosity, awe and a sense of adventure. These diverse set of values are essential to human flourishing. Only through recognising these diverse human relationships with the ocean, keeping equity and inclusion at the centre, can we build a sustainable ocean economy that works for all ocean users. Ocean governance is a collective responsibility of humanity and therefore must ensure that those who have lived in, worked on and stewarded coastal and continental waters are included in future governance decisions. The access people have to the ocean is also being threatened by increasing privatisation and zoning of coastal areas. Without contact with the ocean, people’s relationship with the ocean is under threat, as well as the economy that has grown out of this relationship. Just as the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the importance of public spaces in cities across the world, we need a similar realisation about the societal benefits of maintaining access to the ocean and coast. This webinar will launch the latest Blue Paper commissioned by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Ocean Panel), The Human Relationship with our Ocean Planet’. This paper identifies the diverse relationships with the ocean that contribute to human wellbeing and recommends actions that can help ensure the creation of a fair and equitable sustainable ocean economy that recognises these relationships. Join the paper’s authors and other stakeholders as they discuss how to ensure that a plurality of ocean values’ are represented in processes of planning and implementing a sustainable ocean economy. This event is part of the series of webinars featuring new scientific Blue Papers’, commissioned by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Ocean Panel). Speakers: Heather Koldewey, Zoological Society of London (Moderator),Taholo Kami, Special Representative for Oceans; Sherpa to the Prime Minister on the Ocean Panel, Fiji, Eddie Allison, Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center & WorldFish, John Kurien, International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) & WorldFish. Nireka Weeratunge, International Centre for Ethnic Studies Sophie Benbow, Fauna & Flora International