Because the Ocean

Because the Ocean, climate change & ocean initiative, active since COP21: If we want to protect the climate we must protect the ocean & vice-versa.

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THE OCEAN ANCHORED IN GLASGOW CLIMATE PACT

Glasgow, Scotland, 14 November 2021 – The six years of efforts that began at COP21 in Paris have paid off, with COP26’s decision to anchor permanently the ocean in the multilateral climate change regime.

In its preamble, the Glasgow Climate Pact adopted on Saturday evening, 13 November 2021 highlights “the importance of ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems, including in forests, the ocean and the cryosphere, and the protection of biodiversity […]”.  In Paragraph 58, the Glasgow Climate Pact welcomes the informal summary report of the COP25-mandated “Ocean and Climate Dialogue to consider how to strengthen adaptation and mitigation action”.  In Paragraph 60, the relevant work programmes and constituted bodies under the UNFCCC are invited “to consider how to integrate and strengthen ocean-based action in their existing mandates and work plans and to report on these activities within the existing reporting processes”, and (Paragraph 61)  the Chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice is also invited “to hold an annual dialogue (starting in June 2022) to strengthen ocean-based action and to prepare an informal summary report thereon and make it available to the COP”.

The ocean is the engine room of the climate system. Absorbing some 90% of the excess heat and some 25% of CO2 we produce, the ocean has been a critical buffer against climate change, but tipping points are being reached and ocean risk is increasing. For example:

Ocean acidification: the chemical composition of the ocean is changing due to increased CO2 concentrations affecting in various ways marine life, in particular molluscs and crustaceans

Ocean warming: affecting ocean currents, fish migration patterns and critical habitats, including coral reefs which are home to 25% of marine biodiversity

Ocean level rise: the melting of the cryosphere (ice) is changing the geography of our planet, affecting directly coastal and islands communities, enhancing extreme weather patterns

The COP25-mandated Ocean and Climate Dialogue held in December 2020  recognized that, although its mandate was for a single event, it should be a first step towards catalysing further ocean–climate action. The Glasgow Climate Pact decision to hold annual ocean and climate dialogues starting in 2022 is a direct response.

Participants in the first Ocean and Climate Dialogue also said that, going forward there needs to be a breaking down of silos across both process and practice and better understanding of the ocean, climate change and biodiversity as inseparable issues that must be considered together. They emphasized that the ocean provides multiple untapped and powerful opportunities to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and that the tools are available to generate multiple benefits that go beyond climate benefits: collaborative action is needed to move forward with the work of leveraging those tools in a sustainable and environmentally and socially sound manner; ocean-based solutions must be integrated into the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and other UNFCCC processes (including Parties’ reporting on action, the global stocktake, sharing of best practices and the provision of technical support). One key recommendation was that resources should be mobilized from the private and public sectors for investment in coastal and marine ecosystems, particularly nature-based solutions, to mitigate risk and accelerate resilience and adaptation: Both mitigation and adaptation require an increase in cooperation and collaboration from all Party and non-Party stakeholders, bringing as many voices as possible to the climate action table and practising “inclusive multilateralism”. They said that a road map to address the needs of ocean work under the UNFCCC could be developed.

The Because the Ocean initiative was launched in 2015 at COP21 to address the incorporation of the linkages between ocean and climate policies. On 31 October 2021, Day 1 of COP26 the 3rd Because the Ocean Declaration — a plurilateral initiative in support of a multilateral ocean outcome at COP26 — was launched at a high-level event held at the University of Edinburgh presided by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, and signed by the governments of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Guatemala, Honduras, France, Indonesia, Ireland, Monaco, Norway, Panama, Spain, Seychelles, Sweden and  the UK.

En français via la Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, cliquez ici: L’Océan intégré dans le Pacte de Glasgow pour le Climat.


HIGH LEVEL CALL FOR AN AMBITIOUS OCEAN OUTCOME AT COP26

THIRD ‘BECAUSE THE OCEAN’ INITIATIVE OPEN FOR SIGNATURE

Edinburgh-Glasgow 31 October 2021: On the Opening Day of COP26, the resounding message is that ocean protection is climate protection.

HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, Chile’s Environment Minister and COP25 President Carolina Schmidt, Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna, Belgium’s Minister of Climate, Environment, Sustainable Development and Green Deal Zakia Khattabi, together with Ministers and Ambassadors from Australia, Fiji, France, Indonesia, Panama, Spain, Seychelles, Sweden and  the UK, launched the 3rd Because the Ocean Declaration today at a special event at the University of Edinburgh.

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Update 12 November 2021: 

Between 5 and 11 November, the Environment Ministers of Colombia (Carlos Correa), Costa Rica (Andrea Meza), Dominican Republic (Orlando Jorge Mera), Guatemala (Mario Rojas), and Honduras (Liliam Rivera) also signed the declaration. In addition Canada’s Minister  for the Environment and Climate Steven Guilbault signed on 8 November, as well as Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney on 10 November, followed by Georg Børsting (Norway) on 12 November.

In addition, in his COP26 Ocean Action Day address on 5 November, Secretary John Kerry, President Joe Biden’s Special Climate Envoy said: “Thanks in part to the people in this room, more and more of us are realizing the links between ocean and climate — and changing behavior.  Chile, for example, launched the “Because the Ocean” declarations starting in 2015 and hosted the 2nd Our Ocean conference. Fiji started the Ocean Pathway Partnership during its COP23 presidency. And in 2019, under Chile’s presidency, we had the “Blue COP25.” From now on, when the world talks about the climate crisis, the ocean crisis must be front and center in that conversation.” 

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The 3rd Declaration – described as “a plurilateral initiative in support of a multilateral ocean outcome at COP26” – calls for the adoption of a COP26 decision encouraging all Parties to the UN Climate Convention, to integrate ocean-climate-biodiversity linkages in their plans to implement the Paris Agreement, and to recognize the need for more ambition on all sides to tackle climate change and protect the ocean.

Signatories to the Declaration affirm that they will:

  • strive for the acceleration of efforts to phase out greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping;
  • further the development of clean offshore renewable energy sources, taking into account possible impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems;
  • advocate for strengthening public and private sources of support for climate adaptation and mitigation in the ocean, including with multilateral development banks, climate funds, Official Development Assistance, and other international Financial Institutions; and
  • work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to meet these goals and foster the exchange of knowledge and good practice.

The ocean is often described as the engine room of the climate system and HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco today highlighted the essential role the ocean plays in climate regulation by absorbing more than 25% of CO2 emissions and 90% of the excess heat due to global warming. He also referenced the impacts on marine life caused by warming ocean waters, changes in ocean currents, and ocean acidification, as well as the effects of sea level rise on coastal environments, and the growing number of ocean-related extreme weather events.

The Sovereign Prince said, “We need to explore the role of the ocean fully and increase our knowledge of it. To develop conservation tools, to strengthen the resources employed to promote it, to improve its governance and to take greater account of ocean issues at all UN negotiations.”

Incredibly, despite the critical ocean-climate connection, it was not until COP25, held in Madrid in 2019 under the Chilean Presidency, that the integration of the ocean into the work of the UN Climate Convention really began. Now, out of the 120 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC’s) submitted ahead of COP26, in accordance with the Paris Agreement, 80 make reference to ocean action, leading COP25 President Carolina Schmidt to announce today, after handing over the COP Presidency to the UK, that “from now on, the COP is blue, and all COPs will remain blue”.

Today’s launch of the 3rd Because the Ocean Declaration is just the beginning as more countries are expected to join the initiative throughout COP26.

Click here to download the 3rd Because the Ocean Declaration.

         

With support rom the University of Edinburgh


COP26 – Launch of the 3rd Because the Ocean Declaration

Published 26 September 2021 

The 3rd Because the Ocean Declaration will be launched at a high-level event on the first day of COP26:

31 October at 19h30 at the Playfair Library Hall of the University of Edinburgh.

A plurilateral initiative in support of a multilateral ocean outcome at COP26, the Declaration was prepared in the last seven months by a group of Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change.

If you wish to attend, please apply by email at: info@becausetheocean.org.

The event will be by invitation-only. Invitations will be issued individually, taking into account social distancing required at the time by local authorities and the University of Edinburgh.

Registered participants will receive in due course instructions on how to get from Glasgow to the Playfair Library Hall.

Stay safe – And keep the ocean safe.


BLUEING OF THE COP CONTINUES

30 June 2021 – The annual meetings of the subsidiary bodies of the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), held online this month, ended with an informal meeting on Climate & Ocean held yesterday and co-hosted by the Chilean COP25 and UK COP26 Presidencies, to reflect on next steps to advance ocean-climate action pursuant to the report of the COP25-mandated Ocean & Climate Dialogue released by the UNFCCC Secretariat earlier this year. Under the heading Ocean Action is Climate Action/Climate Action is Ocean Action – Ocean Finance is Climate Finance/Climate Finance is Ocean Finance, the meeting was facilitated by Marco Martinez, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, and wrapped up by Archie Young, UK’s Chief negotiator for COP26.

Some 165 delegates and non-party observers attended the 90 minute informal meeting which provided opportunities for several delegations – including Fiji, Mexico, Indonesia, Singapore, Norway, Brazil, Australia, the Republic of Korea, the Alliance of Small Island Developing States (AOSIS), the African Group, the EU, the USA and of course Chile and the UK —  to reiterate their commitment to addressing the interconnection of ocean and climate change within the framework of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. Nature-based solutions such as habitat protection (including Marine Protected Areas and “blue carbon ecosystems”), fisheries conservation, management and adaptation, sea level rise, the greening of the shipping sector, and the development of ocean-based renewable “blue” energy, and ocean-climate finance were among the concerns most frequently raised by delegations. The Commonwealth Secretariat and the Arab Group also took part in the conversation.

Several participants also emphasized the need to work co-operatively within other UN bodies, such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO), the UN Framework Convention on Biological Biodiversity (CBD), the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) or the on-going UN negotiations on a legally-binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). The Secretariat of the Because the Ocean initiative has contributed to a policy brief published in the month of May by the Ocean & Climate Platform: Swimming the Talk: How to strengthen Synergies between the Climate and Biodiversity Conventions.

Parties have also expressed interest in further strengthening the ocean-climate nexus under the existing UNFCCC processes, including the Nairobi Work Programme, the Science agenda item and the Marrakech Partnership. Among the options on the table in the run-up to COP26, countries have outlined the possibility of having a recurring ocean-climate dialogue, the inclusion of the ocean in COP26 final Decision (1.CP26), or a joint political statement as part of the action agenda.

At the opening of the meeting, Ambassador Coutts from Chile reminded the meeting that Chile is preparing with other partners the third Because the Ocean Declaration which it hopes to launch before or at COP26.

COP26 is scheduled to take place in the first half of November 2021 in Glasgow. It follows the first “Blue COP”, COP25 held in Madrid under the Chilean COP Presidency in December 2019. Making COP26 a success is particularly important, because this is when a number of key unfinished business must be concluded (including climate finance), and it is also the time when the second round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are due to be presented. The Ocean & Climate Platform has released a Provisional Analysis as of June 2021, of Coastal & Marine Ecosystems as Nature-Based Solutions in New or Updated NDCs, which incorporates inputs from the Secretariat of the Because the Ocean initiative.


Because the Ocean Signatories discuss COP26 Ocean Action

An online workshop of the Because the Ocean signatories took place on 23rd March 2021, kindly hosted as part of the Monaco Ocean Week.

Fifty-two persons representing seventeen countries, plus AOSIS and the EU Commission, had registered for this event held by invitation-only.

A roundtable facilitated by Ambassador Helen Agren from Sweden followed presentations from the Principality of Monaco, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (FPA2), the UK COP26 Presidency and the Chilean COP 25 Presidency.

The meeting also benefited from the participation of the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, Ambassador Peter Thomson.

Since its launch in 2015, the Because the Ocean initiative has been supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (FPA2) and now brings 39 signatory countries together. HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and the Principality of Monaco have been following closely the progress made since COP21 to address the ocean in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), especially the work collectively deployed by the countries who have signed up to the Because the Ocean initiative since COP21 alongside HSH Prince Albert.

In the last years, the ocean agenda has moved forward in climate discussions, both within and outside the UNFCCC. The Paris Agreement was a turning point, and, from COP21 onward, we saw an increased interest for the ocean. Since then, there has been encouraging developments on multiple fronts:

  • Knowledge and science: there are growing inputs and knowledge available on the ocean-climate interactions. The IPCC Reports on 1.5°C (SR1.5, 2018) and Ocean and the Cryosphere (SROCC, 2019) were instrumental in building the consensus on the ocean-climate interlinkages. The High-Level Panel on Sustainable Ocean Economy also published an important report proposing a new narrative for the ocean and solutions it fosters. And now, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) will take us even further to generate science and knowledge.
  • National engagement: The ocean is now increasingly considered in climate policies and vice versa. Updated NDCs are increasingly taking ocean components into account, as actual mitigation or adaptation measures – e.g. Indonesia plans to include ocean-based adaptation measures, Chile proposes advancing consideration of climate change in the management of marine protected areas (MPAs), Suriname and Marshall Islands are considering ocean solutions, etc.
  • Mobilization and awareness raising: Ocean Days at COPs have moved the ocean from behind the scene to the blue zone. Various alliances and coalitions have sprung up, including the Ocean and Climate Platform, Friends of Ocean Action, Ocean Pathway Partnership, Ocean Acidification Alliance… and many more collaborative actions. The momentum built through the increased attention of States, NGOs and scientists to the link between the ocean and climate systems paved the way for the ‘Blue COP’ in 2019.
  • Policy mainstreaming: Under the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action (MPGCA), the Ocean and coastal zones are a key theme which provide a platform for Non-State actors. The Blue COP, under the Chilean Presidency, made history by raising the status of the ocean, which ultimately entered the final COP decision. The SBSTA Dialogue on Ocean & Climate provided a space for parties and non-parties to strengthen adaptation and mitigation action.

We owe the rising tide of ocean in the UNFCCC to many stakeholders, including all signatories to the Because the Ocean initiative whose hallmark is to be a gathering of government delegations-only. The two Because the Ocean declarations and their 39 signatories have been played an important role in moving ocean-climate action under the UNFCCC, in promoting ambition, and ensuring high-level political momentum.

Moreover, Ocean and Climate change issues are increasingly addressed across UN fora, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the negotiations on a legally-binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ), the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and in the context of SDG14 implementation. These linkages must be further built to ensure ocean action is supported at all levels. A good example was provided with the release in mid-March 2021 in Nature of a new study on the carbon footprint of industrial fisheries using the bottom trawling technique, which will most likely cause some debate as we move toward COP26 but also CBD COP15, as well as the resumption of the BBNJ negotiations.

COP26 is expected to take the ocean-climate nexus even further. Given the start of what is still hoped to be the “Super Year for Ocean, Climate and Biodiversity”, raising ocean ambition is central for the UK COP26 Presidency. To that end, a key priority is for every country to come forward with revised NDCs that are increasingly ambitious. Parties must commit to a net-zero future to achieve the climate goals and protect the ocean. Championing Nature requires to address both the climate and biodiversity crises as one, including the protection of detrimental marine ecosystems.

A holistic approach for UNFCCC-COP26 and CBD-COP15 must be adopted. In that regard, it is expected that the global target to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 and the Leaders’ pledge for Nature to reverse the biodiversity decline by 2030, will be fundamental. International cooperation and support are essential for ambition. To that end, the UK recalled its commitment of USD 500M to the Blue Planet Fund to protect marine biodiversity, and its support to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) to place the best available science at the heart of discussions.

The meeting was an opportunity for Chile to present the thinking behind their proposal to develop a third Because the Ocean Declaration for COP26, and for other countries to provide their inputs. Technical assistance, finance, stock-taking, and reinforcing discussions currently taking place in the framework of the CBD were among the issues that were discussed.