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Let's find solutions to climate change in the ocean

2019-09-30T18:44:15.319Z


Humanity is wreaking havoc in the ocean. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will publish its special report on the ocean and the cryosphere in…


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Editor's Note: Erna Solberg is the Prime Minister of Norway. Tommy Remengesau Jr. is the president of Palau. The opinions expressed in this comment are those of the authors.

(CNN) - Humanity is wreaking havoc in the ocean. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will publish its special report on the ocean and the cryosphere in a changing climate at the end of this week. Its predominant message will be that climate change, combined with the negative impacts of numerous other human activities, is devastating our oceans, causing an alarming decline in the fish population, the death of our corals, and rising sea levels. that could displace hundreds of millions of people. There is a glimmer of hope: we now have overwhelming scientific evidence that the ocean can be a powerful force to stabilize the climate and forge a secure future for all.

Ocean solutions could provide up to 21% of the emission reductions needed to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. These reductions could amount to 11.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide, or CO2e (a standard unit that measures the impact of greenhouse gases in relation to the effects of CO2). This figure is higher than the current emissions of all coal-fired power plants in the world.

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These are key figures from a report published on September 23, commissioned by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, composed of 14 prime ministers and presidents, which we proudly preside over. It shows in detail, for the first time, how a sustainable ocean economy could play a much greater role than we previously thought in reducing our carbon footprint, which would allow us to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement, and meet the Objectives of Sustainable Development proposed by the UN in 2015.

Given the findings of the report, the High Level Panel is launching a Call for Oceanic Climate Action at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York. The call presents a list of five measures that we can take to strengthen ocean health and mitigate the climate crisis.

The first thing we should do is increase our renewable ocean energy (such as offshore wind turbines and new technologies to harness the energy of waves and tides). As an alternative to fossil fuels, this has the potential to cut more emissions, as much as 5.4 gigatonnes of CO2e annually by 2050. That is the equivalent of taking more than one billion cars off the road for a year.

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We also need to redouble our ambitions regarding the decarbonization of shipping and shipping; Fortunately, many of the solutions to do so already exist. It is also crucial to protect and restore mangroves, seaweed population, brackish water marshes, and other coastal and marine ecosystems that face a huge threat from excessive development. Implementing this would mean that significant amounts of greenhouse gases do not enter the atmosphere, increasing nature's ability to capture carbon. Likewise, the development of low-carbon sources of oceanic proteins, such as shellfish, seaweed and brown algae, can provide a healthy diet for future populations and alleviate emissions from food production on land.

We have the tools to start implementing these oceanic climate measures now.

To win the fight against climate change, we all need to get down to work: on land and at sea. We strongly urge other world leaders to quickly implement these measures, in order to ensure a healthy, low-carbon and climate-resilient future for our oceans.

So far, they have played a relatively minor role in national climate plans and strategies. The actions described in our report offer new opportunities to fight the climate crisis. All governments should incorporate ocean solutions in their national climate commitments of 2020, and in their measures to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Let's strengthen the same side and take this opportunity to save our climate, transforming the way we interact with the oceans.

In our capacity as leaders of Norway and Palau, two countries in which the vitality of the ocean is critical, we understand how the climate crisis affects our citizens and the rest of the world. There is nowhere to hide; the impacts of the climatic emergency will be felt from the deepest ravines of the oceans to the highest points; from the small islands in the middle of the Pacific to the largest nations of each continent.

The ocean is getting warmer and more acidic, which threatens all life on our planet. But this story should not necessarily end in tragedy. The ocean can be a vibrant source of inspiration and hope, and a powerful partner in the fight to reverse the tide against the climate crisis. We can build a sustainable ocean economy that benefits both nature and humanity; but we must act now, before it is too late.

Translation of Mariana Campos

Ocean

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2019-09-30

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