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Responsibly Addressing the Ocean in the Context of Climate Ambition

27 February 2020 – In accordance with COP25 Decision 1 Chile Madrid Time for Action, the Secretariat of the Because the Ocean initiative has submitted inputs to the Ocean & Climate Dialogue to be held during SBSTA52, the 52nd Session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technological Advice (now postponed to a date in 2021 that remains to be determined).

Click here to download the submission (Pdf).

This submission provides an overview of ways in which ocean measures can be taken up in NDCs and other climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. Specific recommendations are provided covering: mitigation (protection of “blue carbon” ecosystems, and promoting ocean-based renewable energy); adaptation (with a focus on marine protected areas); and other solutions for both mitigation and adaptation (sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and greening of the shipping industry).

It contains cross-references to the Ocean for Climate report that was published two months before COP25 last year.

The submission concludes by proposing to launch an annual Expert Ocean Dialogue, or a Glasgow (informal) Ocean Work Programme at COP 26, with suggestions for what this might entail.

Prepared with support from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, this submission reflects views of the secretariat of the Because the Ocean initiative, and does not necessarily represent the views of parties that have endorsed the Because the Ocean Declarations.

Update 23rd June 2020:

To date some 45 governments, groups of governments, intergovernmental organizations, academic institutions, and NGOs have made submissions. Several of these submissions mention the work of the Because the Ocean Initiative, including cross-referencing the proposals made by the Secretariat of the Because the Ocean Initiative in its submission. Click here to access these submissions.

COP26, the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has now been postponed until 1-12 November 2021 in Glasgow. And the 52nd Session of SBSTA at which the Ocean & Climate Dialogue will take place has also been postponed until 2021.

COP25 #BLUECOP — TO BE CONTINUED IN GLASGOW

15 December 2019 – Two weeks of climate talks ended this morning, in overtime, as always. And, as (nearly) always, they adopted by consensus a document – a Decision – reflecting the convoluted, complex, and often confounding negotiations.

Like the sword of Damocles, hanging over Parties’ heads is next year’s start of the second Ambition Cycle of the Paris Agreement. Parties are aware of warnings by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that unless action is accelerated worldwide, and ambition increased, we are on a trajectory that leads humankind toward an environmental crisis of epic proportions.

Graphic representation of the Paris Agreement Ambition Cycles

Delegates and observers at COP25 are expressing their strong dissatisfaction, concern and sadness for a COP outcome that fails to reflect the political resolve called for by the severity of the on-going climate emergency.

The good news is that for the first time, the COP Decision recognizes the importance of the ocean, and launches a process to begin in 2020, which will hopefully strengthen linkages between climate and ocean policies.

Dubbed the Blue COP by the Chilean Presidency, this year’s COP saw climate and ocean practitioners and advocates working together to highlight the linkages between the ocean and climate change. After all, the ocean absorbs 90% of anthropogenic heat and one third of the CO2 we produce, and this comes with a cost for marine life. Ocean temperatures are increasing, the ocean is more acidic due to increased concentrations of CO2, the melting of polar ice and glaciers are elevating sea levels, and ocean-related extreme weather patterns are affecting humans, marine wildlife and habitats, not to mention the global economy. Coral reefs, hosting no less than 30% of the species of marine life known to date, are under extreme stress and are threatened as a result of ocean warming, acidification, and extreme storms.

Here is what the COP Decision says in relation to the ocean:

Commends the efforts of the COP25 President to highlight the importance of the ocean, including as an integral part of the Earth’s climate system, and of ensuring the integrity of ocean and coastal ecosystems in the context of climate change (Paragraph 29)

Requests the Chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) to convene in June 2020 a dialogue on the ocean and climate change to consider how to strengthen mitigation and adaptation action in this context (Paragraph 30)

Invites Parties and non-Party stakeholders to submit by 31 March inputs to inform the dialogue (Paragraph 32)

Requests the Chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice to prepare a summary report on the dialogue (Paragraph 33)

In parallel, another dialogue on land and climate change related matters will also be conducted by SBSTA in 2020.

Claire Perry O’Neill, designated COP26 President

Earlier this week, Claire Perry O’Neill, the designated Chair of COP26 scheduled to take place in Glasgow in November 2020, highlighted the importance of the ocean for climate ambition, hinting that COP26 would be a continuation of the Blue COP. With the mandate now given to the Chair of the Convention’s Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice on this issue, everything points out to a growing swell of attention for the ocean in the context of climate change.

Notes:

The first Because the Ocean Declaration, adopted at COP21 in Paris in 2015 stated that “in keeping with the sense of urgency, it is high time to promote an Ocean action plan under the UNFCCC”.

Before COP25, the Secretariat of the Because the Ocean Initiative organized a series of all-inclusive regional workshops, held respectively in Santiago, Chile, Madrid, Spain, and Suva, Fiji, which resulted in the release in October 2019 of the Ocean for Climate report, a menu of ocean-related measures for climate strategies.

During COP25, the integration of the ocean within the work of the UNFCCC was championed by a “Friends of the Ocean” group of countries led by Monaco, Costa Rica, Fiji, Indonesia, Norway among others.

The Ocean and Climate report will continue to be a useful tool for UNFCCC Parties and other stakeholders, as submissions must be prepared by 31 March 2020 for the SBSTA ocean dialogue in June, as well as for updating Parties’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to form the 2^nd Paris Agreement Ambition Cycle to be launched at COP26 in November 2020.

COP25 ONE WEEK DOWN, ONE TO GO

After an exhausting but successful first week at COP25 in Madrid, the Because the Ocean team took a few deep breaths on Sunday 8 December, before gearing up for another busy week at the COP.

The Chilean COP25 Presidency wanted a Blue COP, and thanks to the participation of ocean experts and advocates from all over the world, a Blue COP it is.

It is virtually impossible to summarize the hundreds of events addressing the ocean-climate nexus which took place during the first week. Discussion on action arising from the Special Report of the IPCC on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC), the Because the Ocean initiative’s Ocean for Climate Report, the Ocean & Climate Platform’s Policy Recommendations, IDDRI’s Opportunities for increasing Ocean Action in Climate Strategies, and the release of IUCN’s Deoxygenation report, were among the week’s highlights.

Reception at the Thyssen Musuem, 3rd December, 2019

On Day 2, the Chilean Presidency organized a special event to announce its plan to launch a Platform of Ocean Solutions where Parties to the Paris Agreement and other stakeholders can share their commitments and plans to integrate ocean-related measures into their climate strategies. Prince Albert II of Monaco spoke at that meeting, together with COP25 President Carolina Schmidt, Chile’s Minister of Science André Couvé, Valérie Masson-Delmotte of the IPCC, and Because the Ocean Initiative Secretary Rémi Parmentier, followed by Emily Pidgeon of Conservation International and Jessie Turner of the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification. Later that evening, the Because the Ocean Initiative organized in partnership with the Ministry of Culture of Spain, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, and the TBA21 Foundation, a reception at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum to celebrate the release of the Ocean for Climate report and the display of Irish artist John Gerrard’s Western Flag masterpiece. Prince Albert II of Monaco, together with Spain’s Minister of Culture José Guirao, Spain’s Minister for the Ecological Transition Teresa Ribera, Chile’s Minister of Science André Couvé, and Francesca Thyssen, Founder and President of the TBA21 Foundation spoke at this event attended by some 250 representatives of the worlds of art, business, academia and COP25 delegates and observers.

The rest of the week saw various interventions from representatives of the Because the Ocean initiative, presenting and discussing the recommendations contained in the Ocean for Climate report. Our Secretary Rémi Parmentier facilitated the opening of COP25 Ocean Day at the Spanish Pavilion on the morning of 6 December, and spoke that afternoon at the high-level session of 13th Meeting of the Nairobi Partnership dedicated this year to action arising from the IPCC Special Report.

On 7 December, Rémi also facilitated the opening of the EU Ocean Day in the EU Pavilion, with participation of the newly appointed EU Commissioner for the Environment and Ocean Virginijus Sinkevicius and COP25 President Carolina Schmidt, among others.

What to watch for in Week Two:

It is no secret that throughout the week, a draft text on the ocean and climate nexus to be incorporated within the COP25 Decision document has been circulating among certain delegations. Conversations on this are expected to gain momentum during Week 2, especially as ministers will arrive early in the week.

Increasing ambition in the global fight against climate change is the main outcome sought at this, the last UNFCCC COP before Parties to the Paris Agreement present their plans for the second ambition period of the Agreement (the so-called Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs) over the course of next year. The Republic of the Marshall Islands is one of the first countries to do so and has just launched the Madrid Ambition Drive for Survival (#MAD4Survival) social media campaign, launched just yesterday by President Hilda Heine on behalf of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF).

Enhanced NDCs are critical given that the IPCC and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warn that the present trajectory of commitments would lead us much above the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1,5º identified by the IPCC.

The Chilean Presidency is preparing a special “Ambition Event” in the evening of 11 December, as a follow up to the Climate Action Summit organized by the UN Secretary General in New York last September. The hope is that countries commit to increasing their commitments and ambition for climate- (and ocean-!) safe planet.

COP25: Take a dive into the Blue COP

COP25 officially starts in six days, on Monday 2nd December. But delegates from the most far away countries are starting to arrive. Chileans, of course, as the Southern cone country hold the presidency of COP25. But you can also occasionally run into a representative from a South Pacific island country near Madrid’s landmark Puerta del Sol.

Like other ocean advocates, the Secretariat of the Because the Ocean initiative based in Madrid is making final preparations. On 26 November, the Secretary of the Initiative Rémi Parmentier was the guest speaker at a breakfast organized by the Spanish Network on Sustainable Development, attended by 78 stakeholders and journalists, where he shared his vision and expectations before the Blue COP, and its relation with the Sustainable Development Goal #14 on the Ocean.

So many ocean-related events are scheduled at COP25 that it is impossible to list all of them here. The full COP25 programme is available on the website of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Here is a list of the events in which representatives of the Because the Ocean Initiative are going to participate directly, as speakers and/or organizers. We shall endeavour to update this list regularly:

Monday 2nd December: 16h30-17h30 Ocean for Climate: Moving from Science to Policy – Organized by the Ocean & Climate Platform in co-operation with the Because the Ocean Initiative, in the French Pavillion with the office of the Prime Minister of France, Edouard Philippe

Tuesday 3rd December 13h15-14h15: Room 25 (Hall 9) Platform of Science-Based Ocean Solutions – Organised by the COP25 Presidency

Thursday 5th December 11h15-12h15: [Pacific] Ocean for Climate – organized jointly by the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Because the Ocean Initiative, in the Moana Blue Pacific Pavillion

Friday 6th December 12h00-13h30: Opening of the Spanish Pavillion’s Ocean Day, facilitated by the Because the Ocean Initiative – 18h00-21h00: Focal Point Forum of the Nairobi Work Programme on ocean

Saturday 7th December: 10h00-11h15: Opening of the EU Ocean Day in the EU Pavillion, moderated by the Because the Ocean Initiative – 14h45-15h45: Incorporating Ocean-Related Options in Nationally Determined Contributions, co-facilitated by the Ocean & Climate Platform and the Because the Ocean Initiative

Activities for the second week of COP25 will be communicated later, as appropriate.

All the above-mentioned events will take place in the Blue Zone accessible only for accredited delegates and observers. If you are not accredited, please check the programme of the Green Zone which is opened to the general public.

More to read: Blue is the new green, by Rémi Parmentier, Secretary of the Because the Ocean initiative. published on 29 November 2019 by Virgin Unite

COP25: The Blue COP Just Became bluer

When Chilean President Sebastian Piñera announced on 30 October that COP25 would not go forward in Santiago as planned, there was a scramble to reschedule it. After all, the latest science about dramatic changes in both the ocean and climate confirms we have no time to waste in moving forward with an ambitious international agenda.

Just one day later the Spanish government offered to host the conference in partnership with Chile, adhering to the original timetable (2-13 December). And just one day after that, the UNFCCC Bureau accepted this generous offer. Such decisions are generally taken on a geological timescale (okay, perhaps this is an exaggeration, but these things normally do take a lot of time); the rapid re-boot of COP25 is a testament to the strength of the international climate policy regime.

Chile was already a strong advocate for addressing the nexus between ocean and climate change, designating COP25 as “the Blue COP.” And with Spain as a partner, that commitment just got stronger.

Of the five ocean-climate workshops held under the auspices of Because the Ocean from 2016-2019, two were hosted by Chile (2018) and one by Spain (2019) – at its launch in Paris in 2015. COP25 President Carolina Schmidt, Environment Minister of Chile, and Teresa Ribera, Spain’s Minister for the Ecological Transition, will be powerful advocates and allies for action to increase ocean resiliency

In her preamble to the Ocean for Climate report published a month ago by the Because the Ocean initiative, Carolina Schmidt wrote: “As a leading member of the Because the Ocean initiative, together with the Principality of Monaco and other countries, during and beyond COP25 — the “Blue COP” — Chile will continue to prioritize action to mitigate both climate change and ocean change.”

The Because the Ocean Secretariat is based in Madrid, and looks forward to continue working with Chile and Spain, and supporting Parties and stakeholders towards a successful Blue COP.