9 December 2014: A report authored by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) highlights the importance of protecting key carbon-absorbing areas of the ocean and of conserving fish and krill stocks to climate change mitigation and climate regulation.

The report, ‘The Significance and Management of Natural Carbon Stores in the Open Ocean,’ presents a range of leading scientists’ views on ocean carbon. It features an analysis of microscopic organisms in plankton that drive the biological pump that takes CO2 out of the air and permanently traps a proportion of it as solid carbon deep in ocean sediments; as well as another study that introduces the notion of “mobile carbon units,” the concept for which emanates from the study of groups of animals that have not been considered as very relevant in carbon management, such as krill and fish.

The report concludes that poor ocean management practices are threatening key species of plankton, fish and krill, which provide important ecosystem services, such as those regulating climate. With regard to report conclusions, Carl Gustaf Lundin, Director, IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Programme, emphasized the need for immediate action on ocean carbon, ensuring that it is taken into consideration in climate policies. [IUCN News] [Publication: The Significance and Management of Natural Carbon Stores in the Open Ocean]