COP25

COMING SOON: Ocean Opportunities for Action Against Climate Change

18 September 2019 – The Because the Ocean initiative will shortly publish a report in response to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) landmark report on the Ocean and the Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) to be released in Monaco on 25 September.

The new report, “Action to Address the Ocean-Climate Nexus: Options for Ocean-Related Measures that can contribute to Nationally Determined Contributions, National Adaptation Plans, Adaptation Communications and national policy frameworks” will provide a suite of options for positive action which governments can take to increase the resilience of the ocean.

Stemming from a series of workshops organized by the Because the Ocean initiative – in Santiago Chile (October 2018), Madrid Spain (April 2019), and Suva Fiji (May 2019), and in the margins of UNFCCC COP23 (Bonn, 2017) and COP24 (Katovice, 2018) – the measures described in the report are offered for possible inclusion in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and other instruments under the Paris Agreement.

In accordance with the Paris Agreement, in 2020 Parties will submit updated and more ambitious NDCs with the aim of keeping global warming to 1.5ºC if at all possible, with an upper limit of 2ºC.

The report will be available online on the website of the Because the Ocean initiative at this URL: www.BecauseTheOcean.org, shortly after the SROCC is adopted and presented publically and following on from next week’s UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit in New York.

The report will contain a summary of some of the main findings of the SROCC, followed by pragmatic actions aimed at both mitigation and adaptation. These include enhancement of Blue Carbon in coastal areas, sustainable, ocean-based renewable “Blue” energy; marine and coastal adaptation measures, and hybrid action (contributing to both mitigation and adaptation) in the fisheries/aquaculture and shipping sectors.

Representatives from some 40 governments participated in the Because the Ocean workshops, together with nearly 60 experts and policy practitioners from international organizations, academia and NGOs. Many of them contributed to the review of the up-coming report prepared by the Secretariat of the Because the Ocean initiative, with support from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

“After several years of discussion within the UNFCCC on how to incorporate the ocean in the work of the UNFCCC, we are glad to see the debate moving to what concrete actions and measures can benefit both the global climate and the global ocean,” said Raphaël Cuvelier, Projects Coordinator of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

The next Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC (COP25) will take place in Santiago, Chile. Emphasizing the importance Chile pays to the ocean-climate nexus, COP25 President Carolina Schmidt, Environment Minister of Chile announced at the Because the Ocean workshop held in Madrid in April 2019 that she wants a “Blue COP,” meaning to advance progress in protecting the ocean against adverse climate change impacts, and taking into account the role of the ocean in climate change mitigation.

Reports of the Before the Blue COP Workshops Available

The reports of the Madrid and Fiji Before the Blue COP workshops are now on-line.
Download the Madrid workshop report
Download the Fiji workshop report

The Madrid Before the Blue COP workshop was made possible thanks to support received from the Prince Albert of Monaco Foundation (FPA2), the Ministry for the Ecological Transition of the Government of Spain, its Fundación Biodiversidad and the Intemares Life programme, and the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI).

The Fiji Before the Blue COP workshop was made possible thanks to support also received from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (FPA2) and the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), as well as the Ministry of Economy of Fiji, the Pacific Community (SPC), the NDC Partnership, the Pacific NDC Hub, the Ocean & Climate Platform, and the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC).

All the presentations made at the Madrid and Fiji workshops are available in the Resources section of this website.

Consultations on the incorporation of the ocean in UNFCCC COP25 (the Blue COP, in Santiago, Chile, 2-13 December 2019) continue in Bonn, Germany between 16 and 27 June where the Bonn Climate Change Conference is taking place.

If you are in Bonn and wish to contact a representative of the Because the Ocean initiative, please send an email to: info[at]becausetheocean.org

The Fiji Workshop Take-Aways: Towards Ocean-Related NDCs

The Pacific edition of the regional workshop series organized by the Because the Ocean initiative on the integration of the ocean into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, followed by the Climate & Ocean Negotiators Symposium organized by the Government of Fiji, ended in Suva, Fiji after four days of intense work and deliberations.

The workshop welcomed representatives of the governments of Australia, Chile, Cook Islands, the European Union, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Samoa, Sweden,Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. as well as experts from several organizations, including the Pacific Community (SPC), GIZ and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the UNFCCC Secretariat, the UN FAO, the Ocean & Climate Platform (POC), the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Conservation International, the Ocean Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy, IUCN, the Varda Group, and the University of the South Pacific, among others.

The event was made possible thanks to support received from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (FPA2), the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), the Ministry of Economy of Fiji, SPC, the NDC Partnership, the Pacific NDC Hub, the Ocean & Climate Platform, and the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC).

The ocean represents the largest part of the geography of Small Islands Developing States, also known as Great Ocean States, thus incorporating the ocean in their Nationally Determined Contributions is extremely important, For example, in its recently released revised NDC, the Kingdom of Tonga who also joined the Symposium participants on 8 and 9 May in Suva included its target of doubling by 2030 its 2015 number of marine protected areas.

Key takeaways from the workshops include:

There is strong appetite and on-going plans to incorporate the ocean within revised NDCs throughout the region.
Commitment, ambition and implementation of Parties in their NDCs requires support, both at the financial and technical levels.
It is expected that the launch of the SROCC in September will help filling the knowledge gaps and raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges concerning the incorporation of the Ocean into the work of the UNFCCC.
PSIDS welcome the development of supplementary technical guidelines/advice to UNFCCC processes, in particular on the potential for linking the ocean with: NDCs, NAPS, National Communications and GHG Inventories.
This support is important to build and reinforce the capacity of PSIDS and must be developed in a way that promotes the ownership and sustainability of climate and ocean action to the countries for the benefit of local communities and their livelihoods.
Detailed discussions took place among the countries on key ocean issues of relevance to the Pacific and pragmatic options were presented for each of the following areas, in addition to initial steps identified to progress the design and implementation of actions:
- opportunities and risks arising from the role of the ocean in carbon sequestration and storage, and the significance of blue carbon ecosystems for adaptation and mitigation;
- clean and sustainable blue energy, especially for large ocean States
- decarbonized maritime transportation of people and goods; and
- sustainable fisheries management, conservation and adaptation to climate change.

It was recognized that whilst mitigation is the primary objective of NDCs, adaptation measures to climate impacts on the ocean and coasts are an essential component that deserves incorporating into NDCs and other UNFCCC elements.
Strategic coherence must be reciprocal: incorporation of the ocean in the work of the UNFCCC must be accompanied by stronger integration of climate change scenarios and concerns in international governance and management discussions.
Workshop participants commended the COP25 Presidency for convening a Blue COP in Santiago and look forward to supporting Chile’s efforts throughout its presidency.

The aim of the “Ocean NDCs workshop series” is to prepare recommendations on the integration of the ocean within NDCs and other UNFCCC vehicles. These recommendations should be released around the time of the release of the Special Report on the Ocean and the Cryosphere in a Changing Climate by the Intergovernmental Panel of experts on Climate Change (IPCC), in September 2019.

Presentations made by experts at the Suva workshop are available in the Resources section of the Because the Ocean initiative website. The finalized workshop report will also be posted in that section when ready.

Fiji Workshop Approaching – First Documents Available

A Because the Ocean Secretariat team is travelling this week-end to Suva, Fiji to make the final arrangements for the third regional workshop “Incorporating the Ocean in Nationally Determined Contributions”, to be held at the Holiday Inn hotel in Suva 6-7 May 2019.

Some 12 countries have registered to be represented and participate, mostly representatives from Pacific Small Islands Developing States (or Great Ocean States, in contemporary terminology).

The workshop is organized by the Because the Ocean Initiative, in co-operation with the Ministry of Economy of Fiji, the Pacific Community (headquartered in Noumea, New Caledonia), the Ocean Pathway Partnership, and with support from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (FPA2), the International Coral Reefs Initiative (ICRI), the NDC Partnership, the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC), the Climate & Ocean Platform, and the Tara Foundation.

Little more than a week before the event, a Provisional Agenda and a Discussion Paper have been released. [It is expected that a few amendments to the agenda will be introduced in the course of next week, and posted on this website]

Click here to receive the agenda and programme

Click here to receive the Discussion Paper.

Representatives from the following governments have registered to take part in the two-days session: Chile (COP25 Presidency), Cook Islands, the European Commission, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Sweden, Vanuatu and Tuvalu. As well as experts from Climate Advisers, GIZ, GGIC, the Institute for Sustainable Futures (Australia), IUCN, the NDC Partnership, the Pacific Bond Project, the Pacific Community, Ocean Conservancy, UN FAO, the UNFCCC, and the University of the South Pacific.

The workshop will begin with a High-Level Opening Session with Fiji’s Attorney General Aivaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Minister for Justice, Economy, Civil Service, Communications and Public enterprises.

The Fiji regional workshop follows two other regional workshops on incorporating the ocean in Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, held respectively in Santiago, Chile (October 2018) and Madrid, Spain (April 2019).

Click here to download the report from the Latin American workshop held in Chile.

Click here to download the report from the European workshop held in Madrid.

If you would like to apply to attend the Opening Session and/or the workshop, please send an email to info[at]becausetheocean.org

The Madrid Workshop Take-Aways

“The increased consideration of ocean issues can serve as an accelerator for raising climate change mitigation and adaptation ambition.” Valvanera Ulargui, Director General, Office of Climate Change, Spain.

Gathering fifty experts from European governments, intergovernmental and academic organizations and observers from NGOs, the Before the Ocean workshop took place in Madrid 10 and 11 April 2019.

A special edition of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin by the International Institute on Sustainable Development is now available online [Pdf: Before the Blue COP Bulletin]

Main take-aways from the two days of intense work include:

There are significant interlinkages between the ocean and climate, and silos between the two policy communities are starting to break down;
Knowledge on ocean and climate interlinkages is improving, but more research is needed to substantiate emerging findings;
The publication of the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and the Cryosphere in a Changing Climate in September 2019 is a great opportunity to increase general awareness on the ocean climate nexus ahead of COP 25 and in anticipation of the UN Decade on Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030);
It is key to ensure environmental integrity and accountability in the context of ocean and climate action;
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement offer opportunities to address ocean and climate interlinkages, but other vehicles such as National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) should also be considered as they can be more conducive to certain types of ocean-enhanced climate action;
Concentrating on advocating for the inclusion of a dedicated UNFCCC agenda item on the ocean might risk delaying meaningful action;
There is ‘great appetite’ for political initiatives to increase the momentum on the ocean-climate-biodiversity nexus, provided that they have an added-value compared to existing declarations; and
Cooperation between the marine and climate communities should be fostered at international, regional, and national levels.

Special thanks go to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition of the Government of Spain, its Fundación Biodiversidad and the Intemares Life programme for their support throughout the preparations and running of the workshop.