Religion, Science and the Environment of the Black Sea

摘要

It is not often that a marine biologist gets the opportunity to interact with religious leaders and top economists in discussions on the environment. I was extremely fortunate recently to be invited to take part in a symposium to discuss the Black Sea in Crisis. There were a number of remarkable aspects of this Symposium. Firstly, it took place on board a vessel that cruised around the whole of the Black Sea from Trabzon in Turkey to Batumi in Georgia, Novosirisk in Russia, Yalta in Crimea, Odessa in Ukraine, Constanza in Romania, Varna in Bulgaria, Istanbul and finally Thessaloniki in Greece. Secondly, his All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, leader of the world's orthodox churches, was on board and his arrival at each port was a spectacular occasion.