On June 10th 2014, during the World Ocean Day, a group of 20 research and non-governmental organizations announced, at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, the launch of the Ocean and Climate Platform 2015. This multi-stakeholder alliance announced their goal to integrate the Ocean in climate negotiations. This announcement took place prior to the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (COP 21), that will take place in Paris in December 2015.
Largest net supplier of oxygen in the world, the Ocean plays an even more important role as forests as the main lung of the planet. By absorbing nearly one quarter of the carbon emissions produced by human beings, the Ocean also plays a regulating role in climate change. However, the increase of carbon dioxide emission – that translates into ocean acidification , the overexploitation of resources and pollution, diminish the marine ecosystem’s capacity to adapt to present and future climate changes.
Launched as a partnership bringing together civil society stakeholders, the research community and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, the platform wishes to cast a light on the debates of the COP21 in regards to the links between the Ocean and the climate. The key role of the Ocean in climate regulation needs to be taken into consideration during the negotiations. As of today, the ocean has only been given marginal consideration in international climate negotiations which have been particularly focused on human emissions of carbon dioxide, on the forests’ role in capturing carbon dioxide and on the necessary adaptation measures in the face of climate change.
Platform members are preparing a series of scientific meetings, conferences, public awareness events, exhibitions and educational projects, starting during the second half of 2014. The COP 21 will take place in Paris from November 30th to December 11th 2015. Its objective is to achieve a new international agreement on climate aimed at limiting global warming to less than 2°C by the end of the century.
List of members:
French Marine Protected Areas Agency (AAMP), Blue Innovations Association, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), French Committee of IUCN – International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Green Cross France and Territories, Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris (ENS), Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF), Oceanographic Institute – Albert the First Prince of Monaco Foundation, Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), Oceanographic Institute Paul Ricard, Nausicaá – National Center for the Sea, Paris Sciences et Letters Research University, MEDPAN Network, World Ocean Network, Sea Orbiter, Surfrider Foundation Europe, Tara Expeditions, The Pew Charitable Trusts – France, UNESCO/IOC – Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.