COP29-Ocean pavilion. Photo Credit: University of Reading
Written by Lucia Snyderman, PhD student with SCENARIO DTP
In the shadow of a standstill on financial negotiations between developed and developing nations at COP29, progress has been made on the sidelines for bringing ocean-based solutions to the forefront of climate action. Dr. Alex Rogers, Deputy Director for Strategic Science Programmes and Partnerships at The National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, shared the positive outcomes he witnessed in the ocean policy side events.
Although there was no discussion on linking climate action, oceans, and biodiversity specifically in the negotiations which were primarily focused on climate finance, fruitful discussions were occurring in the spaces around the negotiations. There is a plan to continue and amplify this discussion of the climate-ocean-biodiversity nexus at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the Economist World Ocean Summit in Tokyo, Japan, and the 3rd UN Oceans Conference in Nice, France. The Brazil leaders of COP30 are planning to highlight the importance of the Ocean pavilion.
Commitment to the 30 by 30 (30% of planet protected by 2030) global goal has already been turned into reality for some nations. Portugal approved legislation to protect 287,000 square kilometers of marine areas in the Azores, representing the largest marine protected network in the North Atlantic. This movement highlights the crucial role of the sea in saving our planet and will hopefully inspire other regions to step up and meet this goal.
The positive news does not stop there. The Leaders of the G20 who met in Rio de Janeiro November 18-19, 2024 recognised the importance of the ocean as well as biodiversity in addressing sustainable development: “We reaffirm our respective commitments to scale up urgent action to address the crises and challenges posed by climate change, biodiversity loss, desertification, ocean and land degradation, drought and pollution.” They also promise to engage in the 3rd UN Ocean Conference.
Furthermore, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva put pressure on developed nations, calling for them to meet their 2050 emission goals earlier by 2040 or 2045: “The G20 is responsible for 80% of greenhouse effect emissions. Even if we are not walking the same speed, we can all take one more step.”
Despite the other looming shadow of a four year term of Trump in office in the United States, which will likely result in the United States not providing financial support to developing countries while continuing to “drill baby drill” and remain a primary carbon emitter, it is hopeful to see other nations stepping up to the table and putting pressure on the developed nations to transform words into action.
Resources
https://www.gov.br/planalto/pt-br/media/18-11-2024-declaracao-de-lideres-g20.pdf