2025 marked the Moore Foundation’s 25th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, we launched a symposium series exploring topics related to the foundation’s mission. These events offer a chance to reflect on the progress of the past 25 years — and, as importantly, to envision the opportunities that lie ahead.
Our founder, Gordon Moore, frequently counseled us to approach our work in environmental conservation with an aim “to win, not simply lose more slowly.” For 25 years, that principle has guided the foundation’s efforts to tackle complex challenges in science and conservation by investing where meaningful, lasting impact is possible.
Today, few opportunities lend themselves to that philosophy more clearly than conservation in the Arctic Ocean.
“The people who call the Arctic home rely on its abundant waters for food, culture, and livelihoods,” said Aileen Lee, president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “The world also relies on a healthy Arctic Ocean to keep our climate stable, to advance commerce and trade, and to nurture habitats for iconic species like polar bears and narwhal.”
Today, Arctic sea ice is retreating at an unprecedented pace. As previously inaccessible waters open to shipping, fishing, tourism, and resource development, decisions made in the coming decades will shape the future of Arctic communities, biodiversity, and global climate stability. Ensuring a healthy balance in the Arctic between development and conservation will be vital to seeing success in the economy and natural landscape of the region.
Imagining what’s possible
To explore what this moment demands of us, the Moore Foundation’s Arctic Ocean Initiative partnered with National Geographic Pristine Seas and the Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California to host The Arctic: An Emerging Ocean. Inspired by film clips produced by Pristine Seas, conservationists Louie Porta, Enric Sala, and Barbara ’Wáahlaal Gíidaak Blake, led an in-depth discussion about this rapidly changing ocean.
Throughout the evening, speakers returned to a central question: How will we shape the future of the Arctic as it becomes increasingly accessible?
A rare opportunity
“In the Arctic Ocean, we are witnessing the birth of a major new ecosystem. Several million square kilometers that were once covered by permanent sea ice are expected to be ice-free during the summer by 2040, if not sooner,” said Enric Sala, National Geographic Explorer in Residence and founder of Pristine Seas. “An ecosystem that evolved in isolation for millions of years is suddenly being exposed to the rest of the world. As the ice retreats, the Arctic is becoming the focus of a new gold rush.”
The Arctic presents a rare conservation challenge – the chance to guide development and protect ecosystems before large-scale degradation occurs.
“As the ocean warms and the ice disappears, the people who live closest to it bear the cost first. Our food sources are shifting and the seasons we have relied on for generations no longer hold,” said Barbara ’Wáahlaal Gíidaak Blake, vice president of Arctic and Northern Waters at Ocean Conservancy. “Our Peoples have been here since time immemorial. We are not going anywhere. But the speed of this change is new, and it is falling hardest on those who did the least to cause it.”
How will we respond?
“This is a critical moment for the Arctic,” said Louie Porta, program director for the Arctic Ocean Initiative at the Moore Foundation. “We can’t have a healthy ocean or climate without a healthy and resilient Arctic Ocean to support us.”
As Aileen Lee asked the audience at the beginning of the program: “Will we have the wisdom, patience, and courage to make smart, science-based decisions that balance near-term development incentives with the preservation of the enduring natural assets upon which our long-term prosperity depends? Can we join across sectors and across nations to govern the commons in a way that averts the tragedies that have already left humanity so much the poorer for them?”
The Arctic Ocean remains one of the last places where proactive conservation is still possible. Through our Arctic Ocean Initiative and grantee partners, the Moore Foundation will continue work to protect biodiversity, strengthen stewardship, and support long-term planning across the region.
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