A group of the world’s leading ocean scientific, philanthropic, and other stakeholder organizations, led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, have come together to highlight the global ocean at the upcoming 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 30 – Dec. 12, 2023. The conference is expected to host over 70,000 delegates, including heads of state and world leaders, to build consensus and facilitate progress on climate action among 197 countries, the EU and thousands of non-government organizations, companies, youth groups, and other stakeholders focused on efforts to achieve the goals laid out in the Paris Agreement.
The Ocean Pavilion returns for a second year to underscore the integral role of our ocean in climate and serve as the central hub for conference delegates to exchange ideas on addressing the climate crisis by leveraging ocean science and solutions. Throughout the two-week conference, the pavilion will feature more than 80 events, meetings, and in-depth discussions that elaborate on a set of conference themes, including Rising Seas, Climate & the Living Ocean, and Blue Economy & Finance. Visitors to the pavilion will also be able to learn more about the work of Ocean Pavilion partners and to speak with scientists, thought leaders, and students engaged in the search for solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
“We live on an ocean planet and the ocean is central to climate resilience and mitigation,” said Peter de Menocal, WHOI President and Director. “In 2023, we experienced some of the greatest ocean and weather extremes ever recorded, underscoring the urgency of science-based decisions to protect people and the ocean ecosystems upon which we all rely. Accelerated scientific research and ocean observing innovation must lead the way to protect the health and future of our planet.”
As every year, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) – the UN agency mandated to promote and support ocean science – will be present at COP to place ocean and climate challenges and solutions at the center of high-level climate negotiations, and facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration on ocean-climate initiatives at the national, regional, and global levels. Since 2021, IOC/UNESCO also participates in its role as coordinator of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), or ‘Ocean Decade’.
“Although significant advancements have been made in the field of ocean science in recent years, there still exist important knowledge gaps that hinder the development of effective climate mitigation and adaptation strategies in which the ocean plays a central role,” states Julian Barbière, Global Coordinator of the Ocean Decade and Head of Section for Marine Policy and Regional Coordination at IOC/UNESCO. “Within the Ocean Pavilion, the Ocean Decade will bring the ocean-climate nexus to the forefront to collectively propose concrete avenues for ocean action, contributing to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.”
In line with the Pavilion’s Ocean 2030 theme, the Ocean Decade will host a half-day event on 3 December (9.30am – 12pm local time) to generate dialogue around ocean knowledge and partnerships. More information will be available soon on the Ocean Decade website.
“Recent ocean observations show that the oceans have absorbed a shocking amount of heat energy that will affect climate and ocean ecosystems for decades to come,” said Margaret Leinen, vice chancellor for Marine Sciences at UC San Diego and director of Scripps Oceanography. Leinen is also co-chair of the Ocean Decade Advisory Board. “We must have the capability to monitor ocean conditions if we are to understand what society and indeed, all life on Earth, is up against. It is simply not an option anymore for climate negotiators from the international community to think of ocean monitoring and protection as a mere consideration. It is now an imperative. The Ocean Pavilion is designed to make negotiators aware of this and to provide them with the evidence of these climate risks.”
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the world’s highest decision-making body on climate issues and its annual Conference of the Parties is one of the largest international meetings in the world. The meeting is the sole venue at which world leaders and climate experts from nearly 200 countries, as well as experts and leaders in industry, trade, transportation, finance, labor, and more convene on the shared mission of meeting the commitments made under the Paris Agreement. Under that 2015 pact, countries pledged to collectively cut their greenhouse gas emissions enough to keep the planet from warming by no more than 1.5–2° C (2.7–3.6° F) relative to pre-industrial times.
As mandated by the Paris Climate Agreement, COP28 UAE will deliver the first ever Global Stocktake—a comprehensive evaluation of progress against climate goals. The UAE will lead a process for all parties to agree upon a clear roadmap to accelerate progress through a pragmatic global energy transition and a “leave no one behind approach to inclusive climate action.” By most estimates, however, the planet is already on track to exceed these limits, even with a complete phase-out of fossil fuels and other sources of greenhouse gasses.
As a result, many science and policy experts are growing increasingly vocal about the need to develop and deploy methods of removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than human activities produce, in addition to drawing down greenhouse gas emissions. This “net negative” emissions pathway relies on vastly improving knowledge about the ocean and potential impacts of continued climate change and any proposed solutions through enhanced ocean observing networks and technologies, with ocean science leading the way to ensure the efficacy of solutions being implemented are monitored, reported, and verified and the environmental impacts are fully understood.
Better knowledge about the ocean and increased capacity development can also help address a much broader array of challenges faced by people around the world, including increasingly extreme weather, food security, energy production, water management, biodiversity loss and shifting biomass, and sustainable growth. For that reason, the partners in the Ocean Pavilion are carrying their message of the ocean’s importance in all human activity and in the health of the planet.