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.