Whereas ten years ago the ocean was absent from international climate and biodiversity negotiations, it now occupies an increasingly important place. Since the inclusion of the ocean in the Preamble of the Paris Agreement in 2015, the scientific community, civil society and coalitions of States have remained mobilised for the recognition of the role of the ocean in climate regulation and the many services it provides to our societies. This mobilisation has paid off, as shown by the final decision of COP26, which recognises marine ecosystems as “carbon sinks” and establishes an annual “ocean-climate” dialogue under the auspices of the SBSTA.
Despite this step forward, the planet is warming, the health of the ocean is severely degraded and the loss of biodiversity is accelerating. It is, therefore, urgent to make ambitious decisions to jointly address these challenges. The One Ocean Summit, organised on the initiative of the President of the French Republic from 9 to 11 February in Brest, set the tone for the series of international events that will punctuate the year 2022.
From New York to Sharm El Sheikh, what are the main issues at stake in the major international meetings of this year?
International negotiations for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction (BBNJ) – New York, USA
The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Conference on an international legal framework for the protection of the high seas will be held from 7 to 18 March in New York. On hold since 2020 because of the pandemic, negotiations on the draft text of an agreement are due to continue and conclude this year with the adoption of an agreement. The negotiations will focus on issues related to marine genetic resources and benefit sharing; area-based management tools, such as marine protected areas; environmental impact assessments of activities in the high seas; and capacity-building and technology transfer. The stakes are high : without international governance, the high seas, representing more than 60% of the ocean, are facing strong pressures that severely threaten the marine biodiversity it harbours and the populations that depend on it.
Our Ocean Conference – Palau, Oceania
Initially scheduled for December 2020, the seventh edition of Our Ocean Conference will take place on 13 and 14 April in Palau. This international meeting, dedicated to the protection of the ocean, will bring together state and non-state actors, and will focus on the following six ‘action areas’: climate change, sustainable fisheries, sustainable blue economies, marine protected areas, maritime safety and marine pollution. Participants will identify solutions to improve the management of marine resources, strengthen the resilience of the ocean to the effects of climate change and protect the ocean for future generations.
The Palau Chair intends to put the ocean-climate nexus at the heart of the discussions. The commitments that States, economic actors and members of civil society are required to make in the run-up to the conference must meet this imperative.
COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) – Kunming, China
Initially scheduled for autumn 2020, the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Convention on Biological Diversity has also suffered from multiple postponements due to the global health context. Organised in two parts, the first part of the online negotiations in October 2021 was dedicated to the adoption of the Kunming Declaration and the preparation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.
Now scheduled to take place from 25 April to 8 May, the second part of COP15 will most likely be postponed to summer of 2022. Member states will have to take stock of the 2011-2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity – whose 20 Aichi Targets have not been met overall – and agree on a final decision for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. The post-2020 draft, published by the CBD secretariat in July 2021, includes targets for conserving at least 30% of terrestrial and marine areas, restoring 20% of marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems by 2030, developing sustainable finance and strengthening synergies between international conventions.
Stockholm + 50 Summit – Stockholm, Sweden
For the 50th anniversary of the world’s first global environmental meeting in the Swedish capital, the United Nations is organising the “Stockholm + 50 Summit: A Healthy Planet for the prosperity of all – Our Responsibility, Our Opportunity” on 2 and 3 June. It will be an opportunity to take stock of the past fifty years of multilateral environmental action since the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). As part of the Decade of Action, the summit aims to stimulate collective global reflection. All participants are invited to share their experiences and initiatives in order to implement ambitious solutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to jointly fight against climate change, ocean degradation and biodiversity loss.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) SBSTA Ocean-Climate Dialogue – Bonn, Germany
The second edition of the Ocean-Climate Dialogue under the auspices of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice, known as SBSTA, will be held during the UNFCCC intersessional period (SBSTA 56), from 6 to 16 June in Bonn. The ocean-climate Dialogue, first held in December 2020, will take place annually from June this year. The Dialogue brings together state and non-state actors to discuss how to strengthen measures to adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects on the ocean.
In preparation for the dialogue, a call for input has been issued for Parties, observer organisations and non-state actors to submit their proposals on the topics to be addressed in the dialogue on ocean and climate change. The call for input is open until 25 March on the UNFCCC’s dedicated portal.
UN Conference on SDG 14 – Lisbon, Portugal
Originally scheduled for 2020, the second UN Ocean Conference, co-hosted by Portugal and Kenya, will take place from 27 June to 1 July in Lisbon. As the highlight of the year for the ocean, this international conference will aim to mobilise States, international and intergovernmental institutions, the scientific community, NGOs and private stakeholders to scale up science and innovation-based ocean actions to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14 on “Life below water” and all other SDGs whose implementation by 2030 depends on the health of the ocean.
Stakeholders will participate in ‘interactive dialogues’ on eight themes, corresponding to the seven targets of SDG 14 and scientific research, in order to assess the obstacles and propose concrete measures to achieve them by 2030. In preparation for these discussions, stakeholders were invited to submit their proposals by 21 February. They are now available on the conference website.
UNFCCC COP 27 – Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
The 27th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC will take place from 7 to 18 November in the city of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea coast. While the final decision of COP 26 has strengthened the recognition and institutionalisation of the ocean in international climate negotiations, it is now important that efforts converge to translate these achievements into concrete actions.
As “carbon sinks”, marine and coastal ecosystems have a key role to play in climate change mitigation and adaptation. While many states have included ecosystem-based mitigation and adaptation measures in their revised 2021 nationally determined contributions (NDCs), their potential is still not fully harnessed. The next NDC review cycle, which will take place this year and from now on annually, must be an opportunity for member States to further include coastal and marine-based solutions in their national strategies. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions must be a priority to limit global warming to below 1.5°C and preserve the integrity of the ocean. Parties must increase their ambitions and efforts, which so far have fallen short of the climate emergency.
The Ocean & Climate Platform, along with its members and the entire ocean community, will stay highly mobilised to bring this message to policy makers. As the Ocean and Coastal Zones focal point of the Marrakech Partnership of the Global Climate Action (GCA) since 2020, the OCP will co-organise the Oceans Action Day to highlight the fundamental role of the ocean, challenges it faces and the solutions it can provide.
The expectations are numerous for this year 2022, which could be a turning point in global ocean governance. For this to happen, stakeholders must take ambitious and coherent decisions and translate them into concrete actions without delay. All efforts must converge towards a common goal: preserving the ocean to protect the climate, biodiversity and human societies. The Ocean & Climate Platform and its members, as well as the ocean community, will be more than ever mobilised to carry this message and ensure that 2022 is finally a blue year.
Eva Matescot