COP28 is already shaping up to be the most important climate conference since COP21, with the first-ever Global Stocktake (GST) coming to an end. Eight years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the GST presents a key opportunity to assess the world’s collective progress and, where necessary, to correct course.
The technical assessment phase of the GST – where information is compiled into an overarching look at progress on climate action – ended in September after about 18 months of intense work. Its conclusions were very clear: the window of opportunity to achieve the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement is rapidly narrowing. Highlighting the urgency of responding to the climate crisis, its conclusions call for “much more is needed on all fronts”.
Moving to the final phase of the GST, that is to conclude in Dubai during COP28, Parties must now discuss the implications of these findings and build together a political response to put the world back on track. This response will result in a decision of the 5th Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 5) – known as the CMA 5 Decision. This Decision must drive political momentum, rallying world leaders towards transformative change.
Despite considerable milestones achieved to integrate the ocean under the Paris Agreement, and the growing recognition of its mitigation and adaptation potential, the ocean remains mostly absent from the GST process. It was, for instance, not mentioned explicitly in the key messages emerging from the assessment. The risk is that it will not be included in the political response either.
Yet, the CMA 5 Decision can guide ambition and highlight critical options, including ocean-based, for Parties to enhance their contribution to the Paris Agreement. Thus, integrating the ocean in this Decision would provide Parties with the requested guidance necessary to increase their ambition and strengthen ocean-based climate measures, especially in the context of their national strategies.
To that end, and building on the suggestions made in the Synthesis Report on Views on Elements for Consideration of Outputs Phase, the Ocean & Climate Platform and Ocean Conservancy, alongside a group of 9 organisations, came together to support Parties in considering and integrating the ocean into the political response to the first GST – namely the CMA 5 Decision. Together, they published the Paper “Integrating the ocean: options for the CMA 5 Decision on the Global Stocktake”, providing language suggestions for each section of the Decision under negotiation.
Among these suggestions, authors for instance recommend that Parties decide that future Ocean and Climate Change Dialogues, from 2024, work towards informing national climate goals and implementation of these goals. In addition, Parties could also decide to support the implementation of the Ocean Breakthroughs (i.e., aquatic food, marine conservation, ocean renewable energy, ocean-based transport and coastal tourism), which act as a blueprint for governments and non-state actors to catalyse action and investments to harness the full potential of the ocean in response to the GST conclusions.
