Blue NDC Challenge Accepted: Opportunity for Ocean-based Action at COP 30

By Marinez Scherer, Special Envoy of the COP 30 Presidency for the Ocean

Hurricane Melissa’s destructive downfall in the Caribbean is a powerful reminder of how climate change is impacting our ocean – and our planet.

Hotter-than-normal waters linked to climate change helped intensify winds to nearly 300 kilometers an hour, creating life-threatening storm surges that put tens of thousands of lives at risk.

As we pick through the wreckage, I am also reminded of the ocean’s enormous potential to help solve the problem of climate change.

The ocean, with its beautiful blue waters that cover 70% of the Earth’s surface, is a crucial but often overlooked ally in our fight against climate breakdown.

So crucial, in fact, that I am calling on all signatories of the Paris Agreement to integrate ocean-based climate solutions into their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and their NDC implementation plans. Admittedly, I am not the first to issue this rallying cry. The Blue NDC Challenge was established at the Third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) earlier this year in Nice, France.

My own country, Brazil, and France launched the Blue NDC Challenge, urging governments around the world to commit to accelerating ocean-based mitigation and adaptation to deliver benefits for climate, nature, and people. Heading into COP 30, 11 countries had signed on, including Australia, Chile, Fiji, Kenya, Madagascar, Mexico, Palau, Seychelles, and the UK.

We’re delighted by their participation, and we are calling for more nations to join them.

Now is the time to act. Ten years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, signatories are updating their climate plans, offering an urgent opportunity for bold, meaningful action to harness the power of the ocean to solve the most pressing global challenge of our time.

The climate, biodiversity, and ocean crises are intertwined – and so are the solutions. In the decade since the Paris Agreement was signed, we have an even better understanding of the ocean’s essential role in mitigating climate change.

Our ocean produces half the world’s oxygen and supports millions of species and billions of people. It is also an incredible heat and carbon sink, absorbing 90% of the excess heat from climate change.

But absorbing all this heat is putting the ocean at risk. Rising ocean temperatures are bleaching coral reefs, threatening marine animals, and supercharging hurricanes.

It is not all bad news though. Ocean-based climate action, ready for implementation today, could deliver up to 35% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emission cuts needed by 2050 to prevent climate catastrophe.

The Blue NDC Challenge offers concrete suggestions to achieve this, for example by:

Phasing out offshore oil and gas production;
Sustainably managing, conserving, and restoring coastal and marine ecosystems;
Scaling up responsible marine renewable energy;
Decarbonizing and adapting maritime industries, such as shipping; and
Fostering sustainable, climate-resilient fisheries and aquaculture.

COP 30 is an historic moment for the ocean. For the first time ever, the ocean was on the agenda at the World Leaders Summit – a turning point in integrating ocean solutions into global climate ambition.

We’ve already seen impressive progress. The latest NDC Synthesis Report from the UNFCCC shows that 78% of new NDCs now reference the ocean, a 39% jump compared with previous commitments. But I’m calling for more countries to step up to ensure ocean health and ocean solutions are reflected in updated NDCs and in plans to implement them.

Small island developing States (SIDS) – among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change – are leading the charge, offering moral and political leadership in the fight for climate justice.

The Marshall Islands, for example, has already enshrined a decarbonization target for the shipping sector in its climate plan. Fiji, for its part, has committed to allocating 30% of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) – its ocean territory – as a Marine Protected Area by 2030.

These are big initiatives from big-ocean States, which we can all learn from. Today, more than ever, nations like the Marshall Islands, Fiji, and other developing economies face an array of constraints when it comes to accelerating ocean-based climate commitments: limited budgets, limited capacity, and limited technical support.

Scaling Blue NDCs will require dedicated global assistance and finance to ensure all countries can act on their ocean-based climate ambitions. Protecting the ocean is protecting our future, and it is time for us all to invest in the resources and partnerships that will make ocean climate action the new norm.

If there is one word at the heart of this year’s COP it is, for me, mutirão, a Portuguese term meaning collective action, the recognition that we are more powerful if we act together than if we act as one. So, in the spirit of mutirão, let’s work together to include our precious, powerful oceans in our climate ambitions at COP 30, protecting and harnessing one of the globe’s greatest resources to tackle this all-important crisis.