A side event taking place during the 2019 UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid, Spain, focused on the ocean and climate nexus as a key component for increasing ambition and achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change. Participants discussed the Ocean & Climate Platform, which was established at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC as a multi-stakeholder coalition working on the science-policy interface.

During the event, titled ‘Ocean for Climate: Moving from Science to Policy,’ panelists highlighted, inter alia:

• conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC), including the impacts of ocean warming on coral reefs, forests, ocean species, mangroves and polar regions;
• the Platform’s recommendations, which provide policymakers and stakeholders with accessible and reliable solutions and measures to conserve oceans, and focus on mitigation, adaptation, science and sustainable finance;
• development agency perspectives on and support for climate change adaptation such as Agence Française de Développement’s (AFD) support for 250 projects globally, including the Clean Ocean Initiative aimed at combating plastic pollution in rivers and oceans;
• options for ocean-related climate action such as eliminating carbon emissions from the shipping industry, fisheries and aquaculture; and
• co-benefits from marine protected areas (MPAs), including for fisheries and combating harmful algal blooms.

During the discussion, participants emphasized, among others, the need for education and public participation to ensure that oceans are considered when addressing climate change.

The event, which convened on Monday, 2 December 2019, was organized by the Ocean and Climate Platform, the Because the Ocean Initiative, and the Ocean Acidification Alliance. [IISD RS Coverage of the Side Event on Ocean for Climate: Moving from Science to Policy] [Ocean & Climate Platform] 

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IISD Reporting Services is providing coverage of selected side events during the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid.