“The ambition of the Blue Ocean Foundation is to see the ocean’s agenda rise significantly over this decade, culminating in an impact and importance by its end that mirrors the current progress of climate action,” stated the foundation’s chief executive.
In an interview regarding the SOS Ocean meeting taking place in Paris between Sunday and Monday, Tiago Pitta e Cunha highlighted the absence of annual conferences of the parties (COP) for the ocean, akin to climate initiatives, and the lack of a dedicated scientific panel like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which played a key role in the Paris Agreement on climate change.
“Fundamentally, the oceans lack a governance system comparable to the climate framework in place today worldwide,” remarked the ocean affairs expert.
While recognizing that the world currently lacks the maturity and capability to establish such a system, Pitta e Cunha expressed that the Blue Ocean Foundation (FOA) aims to facilitate the inception of an ocean equivalent to the Paris Agreement by the beginning of the next decade.
He advocates for this path to commence this year at the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) scheduled for June in Nice.
To set the stage for this conference, the President of France, in collaboration with the FOA and supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, is organizing the SOS Ocean event. This gathering will assemble numerous ocean-related figures, including opinion leaders, policymakers, scientists, and activists globally, to address the most pressing ocean challenges and strategize solutions.
“It will take several more years to achieve an Ocean Agreement (…). Unfortunately, the challenges and crises facing the oceans are such that bad news will continue to accumulate in the coming years, underscoring the necessity of a more vigorous response,” predicted Pitta e Cunha.
The expert noted that over the past 200 years, oceans have absorbed more than 90% of the heat generated from excessive warming, displaying signs of saturation currently.
This condition is contributing to rising sea levels, forecasted to reach concerning levels by century’s end. A mere half-meter increase could inundate low-lying lands that produce the majority of global food.
Additionally, ocean warming is exacerbating atmospheric extremes, as the accumulated energy in oceans must dissipate. The Mediterranean Sea represents a case study, warming more rapidly than any global oceanic body.
“This will inevitably enhance the prominence of ocean issues on the international agenda. We cannot afford to wait until it’s too late,” warned Pitta e Cunha.
To enhance ocean governance quality, the FOA advocates for stronger linkage between ocean summits, climate, and biodiversity conferences.
“This process needs to be triangulated, connecting these events. (…) Since it’s challenging to bring the ocean to climate COPs, we aim to introduce climate topics to UNOC in Nice,” he suggested.
The FOA also intends to convey from Nice to the upcoming climate change COP in November in Belém, Brazil, that addressing climate change requires more than industrial emissions reductions.
Another FOA recommendation is establishing an IPCC for the ocean: “If the ocean were supported by an international assembly of independent scientists that could provide scientific assessments like the IPCC does, (…) we could lay the groundwork for an ocean agreement within five to seven years.”
In February, during the French President’s visit to Portugal, the FOA outlined in a memorandum their initiative: “Make Nice the Paris of the oceans.”
