The Talanoa Dialogue is a global conversation about efforts to combat climate change in which Parties and non-Party stakeholders are invited to get actively engaged and interact around three questions: where are we?; where do we want to go?; and how do we get there?
OCIA submitted inputs to the Talanoa online platform for the “how do we get there?” discussion, based on the OCIA Report published in 2017; and was thus selected to participate to the in-depth discussion for that specific question.
The in-depth consideration of the three questions of the Talanoa Dialogue was held on Sunday 6 May 2018 in Bonn. OCIA was very proud to represent the ocean community in the third group on “how do we get there?” and insisted on the need to develop ocean-related NDCs and to support scientific research to further understand the ocean and climate nexus.
You can read the OCIA Statement below.
Bula Vinaka everyone,
I am Loreley representing the Ocean and Climate Initiatives Alliance – a coalition of 20 initiatives around the globe, promoting ocean-based solutions to mitigation and adaptation.
During the Oceans Action Day at COP23, we released an action report to shed light on 13 initiatives related to marine ecosystem resilience, combating ocean acidification or the deep ocean’s ability for climate adaptation and mitigation. Our objective was to show the international community that solutions exist and are out there. Just to give you one quick example of the innovation that is out there, I would like to share the story of the Blue Belt initiative: it launched the Feed alga project in Morocco. This project is expected to produce 150,000 tons of dry algae per year, which in turn will absorb 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide and produce 150,000 tons of oxygen per year.
My main message today is that we need to further recognize the ocean as part of the solution against climate change. Today, when we address the challenges of Climate Change, we must also address the realities of Ocean Change.
And to do so, we must do it together. By working together in an inclusive manner, with all the stakeholders and with coalitions such as the Ocean Pathway Partnership – which was launched at COP23 under the great leadership of Fiji. I genuinely believe in transversal cooperation and that this is “how we will get there” – towards greater, more ambitious climate action to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
It took 21 years to get the ocean on the climate agenda. We finally achieved it with the inclusion of the ocean in the preamble of the Paris Agreement at COP21 in 2015. Today, we do not have that kind of time. We must act now.
We all have a role to play – and while I agree with previous colleagues who emphasized the need for technological and policy innovation – I also believe we need guiding on how to move forward. In that regard, the Ocean & Climate Platform together with actors of the Because the Ocean Declarations, we are committed to assist Parties in developing their own ocean-related NDCs. Throughout 2018/2019, we shall organize regional workshops – in Latin America, the Pacific and hopefully Europe – to work with countries towards the elaboration of their own ocean-NDCs. Building on these workshops, we aim at releasing a guideline document on ocean-NDCs at COP25.
With regards to the role of the UNFCCC, we believe there is a need for a broader inclusion of the ocean in the UNFCCC processes. I have mentioned the need to develop ocean-related NDCs – but the ocean should be further included in other processes, such as SBSTA, SBI, the Global Stocktake and/or the Paris Rule Book – where the Secretariat will best see fit.
We also recognize that more research efforts are needed to better understand future ocean responses to climate change, as well as how the ocean can contribute to climate solutions throughout the coming century. The release of the IPCC report on Ocean and the Cryosphere in 2019 will be a milestone. It will highlight what we know of the ocean-climate nexus and identify the gaps we still need to fill. We must take full advantage of the outcomes of that report to further strengthen the role of the ocean in the climate agenda. And, in the spirit of bridging science and policy, the Ocean and Climate Platform and IOC-UNESCO will organize a High-level Scientific Conference on 10-11 September 2018 at UNESCO in Paris. You are all invited to join us to better understand the ocean and climate interlinkages and how we can move from science to action.
Now are the years for action and implementation. Thank you all.”
Loreley PICOURT, Head of OCIA