The ocean in the climate negotaitions

By Aaron Strong

Ministers from Chile and Honduras shake hands after Honduras joins the #BecauseTheOcean declaration at COP 23.

 “A healthy climate requires a healthy ocean, and a healthy ocean requires a healthy climate.” This simply stated recognition of the fundamental role of the biological carbon pump and ocean heat sink in controlling global climate and the profound disruption of marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of people that rely on them caused by anthropogenic climate change and ocean acidification has underpinned the work of a dedicated group of countries, NGOs, and scientists who have been working since the meeting in Paris two years ago.

            These groups have been working to “bring the ocean into the UNFCCC process.” In Paris, the #BecauseTheOcean declaration, led by Monaco and Chile, with support from Tara Ocean Expeditions and the Ocean and Climate Platform, (1) called for the word “ocean” to appear in the Paris Agreement (it did – a first since 1992 for a climate treaty), (2) called for a new IPCC special report on the ocean to be initiated (it is being written by the world’s scientists), (3) called for support a first ever UN Ocean Conference in 2017 led by Fiji (it happened in New York – UMaine was there!) and (4) called for a greater recognition of the ocean in future climate negotiations. About 20 countries signed this declaration in 2015, and now there are around 50 countries that have signed on to the ocean group.

            Here, in Bonn, this work is coming to a head with the anticipated announcement of a new Ocean Pathway, which will be announced by Fiji on Thursday November 16^th. The Ocean Pathway is still being drafted, but we anticipate that it will lay out specifics for how ocean actions can be written into national pledges for climate action. Such actions might include coastal climate adaptation and resilience plans, national ocean policies that take into account climate change, more marine protected areas that increase climate change resilience, national ocean acidification action plans, a call for more actions to enhance blue carbon sequestration, and support for the Blue Economy (we don’t know what will be in the final document yet, but one of the things I have been following here is its negotiation and development). But what will it mean to do a better job of including the oceans in the climate negotiations and what will that accomplish? The goal of this work seems to be to provide a common framework for countries to make individual pledges and, potentially, to allocate funding for ocean and marine sustainable development that will help protect marine ecosystems and adapt to and avoid the harms of climate change in our ocean ecosystems. So far, that kind of work has been external to the UN climate negotiations, which have had a tremendous focus in the past on forest ecosystems. This time, with Fiji leading the meeting, it seems it is the ocean’s turn to take center stage.

Governor Inslee of Washington and Governor Brown of Oregon giving a press conference at COP23. WA and OR were founding members of the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification which has expanded at COP23 with several new countries and organizations joining the Alliance. This Alliance, which calls for ocean acidification action plans to be written in each jurisdiction, is helping to lay the groundwork for bring the ocean into the climate change negotiations. (photo: Will Kochtitzky)