OCEANS ACTION AT COP25
By Miriam C. Balgos, Global Ocean Forum

COP25 Decision on the Ocean
The year 2019 has become the watershed year when ocean and climate initiatives from all levels have come together culminating in a UNFCCC COP25 outcome that signals the beginning of a new decade of action on the ocean and climate nexus.

The COP25 decision, Chile Madrid Time for Action, includes a resounding recognition of the critical importance of the ocean in the climate change agenda. The decision:

• Expresses its appreciation and gratitude to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the scientific community for providing the 2019 Special Reports, which reflect the best available science, and encourages Parties to continue to support the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Paragraph 6)
• Commends the efforts of the President of the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-fifth session to highlight the importance of the ocean, including as an integral part of the Earth’s climate system, and of ensuring the integrity of ocean and coastal ecosystems in the context of climate change (Paragraph 29)
• Requests the Chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice to convene at its fifty-second session (June 2020) a dialogue on the ocean and climate change to consider how to strengthen mitigation and adaptation action in this context (Paragraph 30)
• Invites Parties and non-Party stakeholders to submit inputs via the submission portal by 31 March 2020 to inform the dialogue (Paragraph 32)
• Requests the Chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice to prepare an informal summary report on the dialogue (Paragraph 33).

See full GOF story on ocean and climate action at COP25 here.