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The Oceans Day at Cancún

Oceans: Essential to Life, Essential to Climate

at the Sixteenth Conference of the Parties to theUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

UNFCCC COP 16Cancún, Mexico • December 4, 2010

Co-Organizers:

Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands

Global Environment Facility

Secretaries of Environment and Natural Resources of the Mexican States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan

Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), Mexico

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity

Purpose

The world’s oceans play a central role in climate, akin to theEarth’s lungs and circulatory system--generating oxygen, ab-sorbing carbon dioxide and regulating climate and tempera-ture. Oceans already absorb over 80% of the heat added to theclimate system and nearly 50% of all CO2 added to the at-mosphere by burning fossil fuels over the past 250 years.

But, the oceans’ ability to provide these life-sustaining servicesis now at risk. Rising ocean temperatures trigger broad-scale ef-fects, such as melting polar ice, rising sea levels, shiftingspecies distribution and abundance, erratic weather patterns,increased frequency and intensity of storms, and changes inocean currents. Moreover, rising levels of CO2 absorbed byseawater has caused a 30% increase in acidity, posing seriousthreats to marine ecosystems and the millions of people de-pendent upon them. The more than 50% of the human pop-ulation that lives in 183 coastal countries, including 44 smallisland nations, are at the frontline of climate change and willsuffer disproportionate impacts. Oceans and coasts, however,have not yet figured on the agenda of the UNFCCC.

Oceans Day at Cancún, which was co-organized by the GlobalForum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands, in association with theGlobal Environment Facility, the Secretaries of Environmentand Natural Resources of the Mexican States of Campeche,Quintana Roo, and Yucatan, and the Secretariat of Environ-ment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), Mexico, in collab-oration with UN-Oceans and the United NationsDevelopment Programme, brought together Parties and Ob-server States, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, the sci-entific community, and members of civil society to emphasizethe role of ocean and coasts in climate and focus high-level at-tention to the importance of addressing oceans issues at theclimate talks at COP16 in Cancún.

Oceans Day at Cancún highlighted the direct link betweenclimate change, the health of the oceans, and human well-being, as well as the need for sufficient funding to supportbold mitigation and adaptation measures to minimize climatechange impacts on coastal communities and ocean resources.Additionally, Oceans Day featured working group sessions to

advance strategic thinking on aspects of a comprehensiveagenda on oceans and climate, and special sessions on adap-tation needs and related financing.

The Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands

The Global Forum has made climate change and its impactson oceans and coastal ecosystems and communities a majortheme of its work. The Global Forum co-organized the GlobalOcean Policy Day at the World Ocean Conference (May 11-15, 2009, Manado, Indonesia), which produced the ManadoOceans Declaration, stressing the importance of havingoceans on the climate change agenda at the UNFCCC COP15in Copenhagen and beyond. The Global Forum organized thefirst-ever Oceans Day at the UNFCCC Fifteenth Conferenceof the Parties in Copenhagen, on December 14, 2009, whichhighlighted the need to focus attention on oceans, coasts andSIDS in the climate negotiations beyond Copenhagen. AtOceans Day in Copenhagen, more than 300 leaders from gov-ernments, UN agencies, NGOs, science and industry from 40countries underscored that the UNFCCC should recognizethat oceans play a central role in climate and that an integrated oceans and coasts program within the UNFCCC bedeveloped by 2013 (http://www.oceansday.org/pdf/sum-mary.pdf).

Climate and oceans was also a central theme at the FifthGlobal Oceans Conference 2010, held in Paris, UNESCO, May3-7, 2010, co-organized by the Global Forum on Oceans,Coasts, and Islands, the Government of France, and the In-tergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, UNESCO, with67 other organizations around the world, and involving 850leaders from 80 countries. The Conference concluding state-ment emphasized the need to launch a comprehensive oceanand climate initiative within and outside the UNFCCCprocess, including elements of mitigation, adaptation meas-ures, programs focusing on capacity development, public education and awareness, and measures to address the issues associated with the possible displacement of coastal populations.

The Oceans Day at Cancún

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The Oceans Day at CancúnAGENDA

9:00-10:15AM

Panel 1. Welcome and Opening Ceremony

Introduction by the Co-Chairs:

Dr. Biliana Cicin-Sain, Co-Chair and Head of Secretariat,Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands

Ambassador Ronald Jumeau, Permanent Representative of Seychelles to the United Nations

Dr. Evelia Rivera Arriaga, Secretary, Environment and Sustainable Development, State of Campeche, Mexico

Mr. David Ainsworth, Programme Officer for Climate Change,Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat

10:15-10:30AM

Coffee Break

10:30-11:45AM

Panel 2. Implementation and Financing Strategies forMitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change Impactson Coastal Communities and Small Island DevelopingStates

Chair:Mr. Festus Luboyera, Programme Officer, Adaptation,Technology and Science Programme, UNFCCC

Speakers:

Dr. Mannava Sivakumar, Director of the Climate Predictionand Adaptation Branch, World Meteorological Organization

Mr. Denis Vasseur, Head, Climate Change, French Global Environment Facility

Ms. Janot-Reine Mendler de Suarez, formerly GEF IW:LEARN

Ms. Grit Martinez, Ecologic Institute

Dr. Toni Ruchimat, Director of Small Islands Management,Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Indonesia

Ms. Sara Aminzadeh, Program Manager, California Coastkeepers Alliance

Mr. Emmanuel Guérin, Director, Climate Programme, IDDRI

11:45-1:00PM

Panel 3. Climate Change and Ocean Acidification

Chair: Dr. Carol Turley, Knowledge Exchange Coordinator ofthe UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme, PlymouthMarine Laboratory, UK

Speakers:

Dr. Tony Haymet, Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanogra-phy, Vice Chancellor, Marine Science, University of California, San Diego

Ms. Ellycia Harrould-Kolieb, Marine Scientist, Oceana

Special Address:

Hon. Rejoice Mabudafhasi, Deputy Minister of Water andEnvironmental Affairs, South Africa

1:00-2:00PM

Lunch

2:00-2:45PM

Panel 4. Linking the Science and Economics of Blue Carbon

Chair: Dr. Brian Murray, Director for Economic Analysis,Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University

Speakers:

Ms. Dorothée Herr, Marine Programme Officer, Global Marineand Polar Programme, IUCN

Dr. Stephen Crooks, Climate Change Director, ESA PWA

Dr. Hendra Yusran Siry, Deputy Director for Technical Serv-ices, Research Centre for Marine and Fisheries Socio-Econom-ics (RCMFSE), Agency for Marine and Fisheries Research andDevelopment (AMFRD), Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fish-eries, Indonesia

2:45-5:00PM

Workshops on Developing an Integrated Approach toClimate and Oceans and Preparation for Rio+20

Chairs:

Dr. Biliana Cicin-Sain, Global Oceans Forum

Dr. Miriam C. Balgos, Global Oceans Forum

2:45-3:00PM

Introduction, Objectives, Expected Output, and Mechanicsof the Workshops

3:00-5:00PM

Breakout Sessions (Mitigation, Adaptation, Financing andCapacity Building, and Rio+20)

5:00-6:00PM

Panel 5. Closing Ceremony

Reports from the Workshop Chairs, Breakout Sessions(Mitigation, Adaptation, Financing and Capacity Building)

Special Addresses:

Dr. Antonio Diaz de Leon, Director-General, Environmen-tal, Regional Integration and Sectoral Policy, Environmentand Natural Resources Ministry (SEMARNAT), Mexico

Closing Remarks from the Co-Chairs

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Oceans Day at Cancún shed new light on the urgencyof restoring and sustaining the powerful capacity ofocean and coastal ecosystems to perform crucial cli-

mate functions, and the need to support the resilience andadaptive capacity of ocean and coastal communities to re-spond to the impacts of climate change. New scientific re-search reveals that marine areas play a major role in carbonstorage, with economically significant benefits both in termsof climate change adaptation and mitigation. However, im-pacts such as ocean acidification and habitat degradation arecompromising the ability of ocean and coastal ecosystems tocontinue to play their important roles in the global climatecycle. This presents an urgent threat to the world’s coastal andocean communities, especially in small island developingStates (SIDS). With over half the world’s population livingwithin one meter of sea level and already facing escalating im-pacts of climate change, adaptation financing will need to beleveraged on an unprecedented scale to enable the world’svulnerable coastal areas to avoid disastrous impacts. Ecosys-tem-based approaches may prove to be the most cost-effec-tive and practical way to avert the rising tide of ‘natural’disasters, while market-based mechanisms, such as insurance,will play a key role in transferring the risks of climate changethat cannot be addressed through other measures.

Oceans Day at Cancún was the second Oceans Day held inthe context of the UNFCCC COP. The first Oceans Day washeld at UNFCCC COP 15 in Copenhagen, in response to theurgent need to raise the profile of ocean issues in the UNFCCCnegotiations. At Ocean Day at Cancún, a stirring opening cer-emony set the stage for multi-stakeholder discussions on is-sues related to oceans and climate. Three multidisciplinaryexpert panels and several special addresses contributed to anemerging understanding of the compound impacts of oceanwarming and ocean acidification, the multiple benefits andeconomic potential of Blue Carbon, the vulnerabilities ofcoastal and island countries, and priorities for adaptation

financing. To digest the expert panel sessions, participantsdelved further into these topics in three parallel workshops,which engaged in strategic thinking on advancing a compre-hensive ocean strategy within the UNFCCC process in thelead-up to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development(Rio+20 Summit) in 2012.

Welcome and Opening SessionDr. Biliana Cicin-Sain, Head of Secretariat of the GlobalForum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands, welcomed co-chairs,panelists and participants to hear from some of the leading ex-perts on oceans and climate. Citing impacts related to oceanwarming, ocean acidification, sea level rise, increasing stormfrequency and intensity, changes in species distribution andecosystem function, and anomalies in ocean currents, Dr.Cicin-Sain described Oceans Day as an opportunity to em-phasize the central role of oceans in climate, calling for strin-gent reductions in greenhouse emissions within a shorttimeframe to ensure the health and well-being of coastal andmarine ecosystems. Dr. Cicin-Sain outlined the need to com-municate ocean and coastal concerns in compelling ways, inorder to collaborate more effectively within the UNFCCCprocess and enable decision makers to take urgent action tomitigate climate change impacts. She also emphasized theneed to replace the current misperception of oceans andcoastal ecosystems as a “sectoral nuisance” with an under-standing of the vital role of healthy oceans and coasts in reg-ulating the global climate, in mitigation and adaptation, andin moving towards a low-carbon economy. Calling for discus-sions on how mitigation, adaptation, financing, and capacitybuilding fit together as building blocks, Dr. Cicin-Sain outlinedkey elements for consideration in an integrated approach:

• Promoting opportunities for ocean-based mitigation,such as developing a protocol for using natural Blue Carbon sinks in coastal areas, learning from the REDD(Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest

Summary of Oceans Day ProgramPrepared by

Janot-Reine Mendler de Suarez, formerly GEF IW:LEARN, and Joseph Appiott, and Lauran Potter,Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands

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Degradation) process for forests, and reducing pollutionfrom ships;

• Developing ocean-based renewable energy (using marinespatial planning);

• Assessing geo-engineering methods, such as carbon cap-ture and storage (CCS), and ocean fertilization (stronglydiscouraged), and the need for regulation to prevent ad-verse impacts on ocean ecosystems from these approaches;

• Improving economic valuation of the implementation ofbiodiversity and ecosystem-based adaptation (includingnetworks of MPAs);

• Designating nested integrated coastal and ocean man-agement institutions at local, national and regional lev-els as the best way to build the resilience of communitiesand their ecosystems;

• Preparing for the legal, economic, social and humanitar-ian impacts of climate change, including displacementof coastal populations;

• Emphasizing climate risk reduction through early warn-ing and early action systems founded on public educa-tion and capacity development;

• Improving disaster preparedness;

• Utilizing insurance mechanisms for regional risk trans-fer, as appropriate.

Dr. Cicin-Sain underlined the urgent need to develop betterestimates of coastal adaptation and mitigation costs and ben-efits, as current estimates fail to incorporate emerging scien-tific findings as well as many of the effects of climate changein coastal countries, and suggested that 50% of climate fi-nancing should be dedicated to the most vulnerable 50% ofthe world’s population living in coastal and island countries.

Dr. Biliana Cicin-Sain

We must do our work with a great sense ofurgency. Climate change effects in coastalareas and oceans are already with us, andwe must rapidly develop and enhance our

collective capabilities for addressing the negative conse-quences, as well as mobilizing toward transforming our soci-eties to carbon-free economies. We need to do this to ensureour planetary survival and our societal well-being. The time toact is now, not tomorrow.

Ambassador Ronald Jumeau, Permanent Representative ofSeychelles to the United Nations and co-chair of Oceans Day,made an impassioned and candid plea to not delay fast-trackclimate financing for developing nations and small-island de-veloping States (SIDS). Nations such as the Seychelles, whichwas drastically impacted by the recent financial crisis, arestruggling to balance the needs of vital and interconnectedsectors, the failure of any of which could ultimately renderthem failed states. Following the causal chain of climate rip-ple-effects through the economy, compounding risks and tax-ing already scarce public resources, Ambassador Jumeau statedthat ocean and coastal ecosystems are not only a source ofwealth for countries such as Seychelles and other SIDS, butalso that the health and wealth of the nation state are itscoastal and marine environment. In a country like the Sey-chelles, which is heavily dependent upon the tourism andfishery sectors, we can see how ocean acidification, changes inweather patterns, and the multiple effects of sea-level rise arealready impacting the livelihoods and economies of small is-land states, and how national policies that pass along adap-tation costs to the productive sectors do not really transferclimate risk. Ambassador Jumeau, who has previously servedas Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Water for theSeychelles, knows first-hand the tradeoffs confronting SIDSgovernments in order to meet basic food, water, and energyneeds. Although SIDS bear negligible responsibility for caus-ing climate change, it is clear that the calls by the small islandstates for commitments to steep emissions reduction targetsand for fast-track adaptation assistance and transformation toa low-carbon economy is not only in the interest of SIDS butis also in the best interests of all humanity.

Ambassador Ronald Jumeau

With sea level rising, we have no landto move to. Forested slopes and graniterocks are our only retreat. After the bigcoral bleaching event, the beaches havebeen eroding faster, all because of cli-

mate change; and it will worsen. ... Without financial assis-tance, we cannot hold back the effects of climate change thatare already hitting us. The Moon Palace [where the Cancúnclimate negotiations were held] is bogged down and the mostfrustrated bunch of diplomats and negotiators are from theSIDS & AOSIS [Alliance of Small Island States] countries. Allwe have to lose is our country. All of the islands that are notsubmerged will become failed states. ... Mother nature is hit-ting back in her wrath, but, unfortunately, we’re the first inher path when she hits back. Small islanders speak with pas-sion because we see what is happening. It is ironic that thepeople who are doing this to us are the ones lying on ourbeaches.

Co-chair Dr. Evelia Rivera Arriaga, Secretary of Environmentand Sustainable Development for the State of Campeche,Mexico, drew a complex picture of the effects of climatechange in Mexico. Dr. Rivera Arriaga observed that the rele-vant legal framework often defines the coastal zone in geo-

graphic terms but, when faced with the need to addressclimate effects, the coastal zone is defined by the scope of im-pact. Therefore, the relevant management scale for climatechange impacts rapidly expands from local to national to re-gional to global. May 2010 was Mexico’s warmest period in131 years. This continued warming has notable implicationsfor sea-level rise due to thermal expansion of seawater. Ver-acruz, Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo are among thecritical coastal areas with elevated potential for extremeweather events. Using the example of Hurricane Roxanne,which impacted half the country, Dr. Rivera Arriaga notedthat coastal storms also drive disastrous changes in inlandrainfall patterns and intensity. Sea-level rise threatens the

Campeche region with projected damages from acceleratederosion of sediments due to the combined effects of impropercoastal zone planning, increased river flooding, as well ashabitat degradation threatening commercially valuable fish-eries. New studies are demonstrating how temperaturechanges in the oceans can affect biodiversity by altering thethermocline, which conveys essential nutrients for the pri-mary producers of the oceans, thereby threatening the healthof phytoplankton, which play an integral role in ocean eco-logical processes. Dr. Rivera Arriaga also discussed the impactsof temperature stress and rising ocean acidity, which are tax-ing the trophic chain that supports the marine food web andglobal fisheries. Coral bleaching events, due to ocean warm-ing, have an impact not just on reefs, but also on coastal zonesand fisheries. From a scientific perspective, the need to ad-dress climate change mitigation, adaptation, technology de-velopment, and finance is clear, but faced with the globalscope of issues confronting coastal countries, Dr. Rivera Ar-riaga concluded with a question that she cannot yet answer:what percent of GDP will need to be invested for a countrylike Mexico to adapt?

Dr. Evelia Rivera Arriaga

I must stress the importance of oceans in total weather regu-lation. Ocean heat exchanges with humidity and currents, andtime series showing the accumulation of heat in the ocean areconvincing measurements that we are heading to catastrophe.In Mexico we are looking at multiple sea level rise effects, andan increase from 1851-2006 in both tropical and North At-lantic storms… Anomalous eddies, geotrophical velocitychanges that increase the force of currents on the coastal zoneare increasing erosion… Global circulation regulates globalweather, and changes in ocean currents also affect marine life.Coral bleaching events impact not just reefs but coastal zonesand fisheries… Simulation of anomalous distribution of warmand cold water in the ocean shows projected impacts on bio-diversity, and we have already seen that disruption in NorthAtlantic circulation has a correlation to when higher captureof cod drops. Propagation of pathogens are also a factor inocean circulation; mapping of dust coming from the Saharashows how it transfers from Africa to Mexican coral reefs…

Because we need to work now on mitigation, adaptation, tech-nology and finance, we need to put these issues into the UN-FCCC negotiations as a 2012 target.

Mr. David Ainsworth, the Information Officer for the Secre-tariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and FocalPoint for the International Year of Biodiversity, spoke on be-half of Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Con-vention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Mr. Ainsworthhighlighted the role of Oceans Day in the Ecosystems Pavil-ion, which is a virtual collaboration among the three Rio

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Conventions, the UNFCCC, the CBD, and UN Convention toCombat Desertification (UNCCD), to serve as a platform fordecision makers, scientists, and civil society to openly discussecosystem-based approaches to mitigation and adaptation,the role of indigenous knowledge and peoples, water issues, fi-nance, and implications for oceans and coastal communities.Mr. Ainsworth highlighted the recent CBD COP 10 in Japan,which featured Oceans Day at Nagoya and called upon partiesto address climate change impacts on biodiversity, with tar-gets for reducing impacts on oceans, and in particular acidifi-cation, by 2015. Looking ahead, he called for continuedcollaboration with important milestones to strive for in 2011in Korea, in Durban at the UNFCCC COP 17, and the need towork in concert to define biodiversity and ecosystem-basedprocesses that will converge at Rio+20 in 2012.

Mr. David Ainsworth, speaking on behalf of Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf

The tenth meeting of the Conference ofthe Parties to the Convention on Biologi-cal Diversity, held this past October inNagoya, Japan, noted with concern theadverse impact of climate change on ma-rine and coastal biodiversity. In response,

the Conference of the Parties called on all 193 Parties to theCBD to highlight the role of marine and coastal ecosystemswithin climate change mitigation and adaptation; to promotesustainable management, conservation and enhancement ofnatural carbon sequestration services of marine and coastalbiodiversity; and to enhance the resilience of coastal and ma-rine ecosystems....Our success depends on collaborative efforts,with the inherent understanding that our own well-being de-pends on the health of the oceans.

Dr. Cicin-Sain invited special guest, Dr. Letitia Obeng, Ex-ecutive Secretary of the Global Water Partnership (GWP), toaddress the opening session, in light of the need to forgelinkages between integrated coastal management (ICM) andintegrated water resource management (IWRM). Noting thatthe freshwater and marine communities have a commonstake in healthy water resource systems, Dr. Obeng observedthat, in fully recognizing the reality that water is generallytaken for granted, it is clear that effective adaptation is onlypossible if we improve the ways that we manage and use ourwater. Dr. Obeng warned that countries without water secu-rity will not have sustainable development and she ex-pressed interest in the idea of a specific coastal adaptationfund. Dr. Obeng welcomed coastal countries and SIDS towork together with GWP to jointly advance the freshwaterand oceans agenda.

Implementation and Financing Strategiesfor Mitigation and Adaptation Chaired by Mr. Festus Luboyera, Project Officer at the UN-FCCC, this panel brought together representatives of institu-tions and organizations involved in adaptation andmitigation implementation and financing at various levels, toshare their experience and perspectives on strategic policy,partnerships, and financing for integrated climate-resilientocean and coastal development.

Dr. Mannava Sivakumar,Director of the Climate Predictionand Adaptation Branch of the World Meteorological Organi-zation (WMO), described how the WMO’s Marine Meteorol-ogy and Oceanography Programme is building strategiccapacity to address climate change impacts through integra-tion of in situ and space observations, and is working withpartners to promote expansion of services by developing user-oriented products. WMO is working with UNESCO’s Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to bridgethe gap between meteorology and oceanography through ajoint WMO/IOC maritime services commission, bringingoceanographic, weather, and climate services together. Not-ing that some regions were not equipped for storm surge fore-casting, the WMO initiated a process to examine thecapabilities and willingness of existing regional meteorologi-cal centers to participate in regional storm surge watchschemes to improve tropical cyclone advisory services. TheWMO is facilitating preparatory steps for the development ofa comprehensive storm surge watch scheme, through the de-velopment of a coastal inundation forecasting demonstrationproject. This project aims to coordinate coastal forecastingand warning services and to foster interactions of nationalmeteorological services with disaster management and civilprotection agencies, to help improve preparedness, response,and management strategies. This will produce better forecastsand warnings, allowing national disaster management andcivil protection authorities, as well as international and re-gional humanitarian agencies to better respond to weatherevents. Dr. Sivakumar stressed that national and internationalcooperation is essential among the IOC, WMO, and nationalhydrological, meteorological, and ocean agencies, in order toeffectively address the effects of climate change.

Mr. Denis Vasseur, Head of Climate Change at the FrenchGlobal Environment Facility (FFEM) discussed the negative im-plications of climate change for development. As climatechange compromises economic growth, Mr. Vasseur high-lighted the importance of decreasing vulnerability by increas-ing adaptive capacity. Mr. Vasseur noted that FFEM adaptationprojects are essentially development projects with componentsthat help to design strategic adaptive development policies,improve diagnostic tools to incorporate local knowledge, andassist coastal communities and SIDS to develop and carry outlocale-specific measures. He also noted, however, that adapta-tion and development are not always compatible. Adaptationis cross-sectoral and characterized by uncertainty, and it is

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often difficult to distinguish the effectsof climate change from other humanimpacts on the environment. Mr.Vasseur emphasized that the formula-tion of strategic vision concerning acountry’s needs should involve asmany different stakeholders and per-spectives as possible. He also describedthe Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insur-ance Facility (CCRIF), which is the firstmulti-national catastrophe risk pool,covering tropical cyclone and earthquake risk for 16 nations.

Ms. Janot-Reine Mendler de Suarez, formerly GEF IW:LEARNand co-chair of the Global Forum’s Working Group on Cli-mate, Oceans, and Security, discussed cost estimates for coastaladaptation, noting that even the best estimates are fragmentedand incomplete. Most estimates are generally based on the er-roneous assumption that the coastal zone is a sector defined bythe infrastructure at the interface between the land and thesea, and therefore fail to take into account the complex web ofsocial and environmental impacts that affect the full spectrumof livelihoods and securities–food security, health, protectionfrom natural hazards, etc.–of roughly half the world’s popula-tion living at increasing risk in coastal and island areas. For ex-ample, the 2007 UNFCCC estimates of $11 billion/year foradaptation in coastal zones did not include the impacts of in-creasing storm intensity, saline intrusion in coastal aquifers,destruction of habitats that support fisheries, mariculture, andbiodiversity, or coastal protection and climate-regulating serv-ices provided by coastal and marine ecosystems. The WorldBank/UN Economics of Climate Change Adaptation (ECCA)2010 report, using higher (now obsolete) sea-level rise predic-tions, estimated coastal zone adaptation costs of $26-89 bil-lion/year in developing countries, but still focused principallyon infrastructure. This estimate, however, did not account forthe impacts of extreme events coral reef degradation, loss oflivelihoods, cross-sectoral impacts, and nature-based adapta-tion measures, nor did it adequately account for relative costsof differential vulnerabilities among and within countries,multiplier effects on other sectors, and ecosystem impacts.NOAA expects global fisheries to suffer a 50% reduction intoday’s $80 billion yearly global fish catch, although it is dif-ficult to distinguish impacts on fisheries due to climate changefrom impacts due to overfishing. Over half of the losses will beborne by developing countries, with an estimated decline of $7billion/year in East Asia, and $16 billion in the Pacific. Thereinsurance industry anticipates a 65% increase in disasters,with additional damages due to climate change from tropicalcyclones alone of $54 billion/year by 2100 – doubling baselinelosses. By 2050, in South Asia there will be 246 million peoplein cyclone-prone urban areas, and 21 million at risk in Sub-Sa-haran Africa. When damages are scaled by GDP, Caribbean is-lands are among the worst hit, with disaster costs up to $300billion/year predicted by Economic Commission for Latin

American and the Caribbean. Evenwithout comprehensive adaptation es-timates, the Copenhagen price tag of$100 billion/year clearly falls short, un-derscoring the need for UNFCCC com-mitments to be met and increased.Meanwhile, countries must undertakedecisive action to restore and sustainthe protective and productive func-tioning of their coastal and marineecosystems. In addition, through the

implementation of early warning and early action systemsgovernments can better prepare for and respond to climatechange and prevent or reduce disasters, and the formation ofregional disaster risk insurance pools offers a means to trans-fer those risks which cannot be mitigated by other means.

Ms. Grit Martinez, from the Ecologic Institute, shared a casestudy of regional adaptation strategies in the German BalticSea. 50% of the EU population lives within 50 kilometers ofthe coast. The Baltic is one of the most heavily polluted seas,suffering from eutrophication, which is further aggravated byclimate change. The Baltic Sea Action Plan, instituted in 2007,serves as an umbrella for adaptation projects. The Baltic coast-line of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Hol-stein is one of seven model regions in Germany that issupported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research(BMBF) through the funding activity “Managing ClimateChange in the Regions for the Future"(KLIMZUG). This 15-year, 9 million euro project involves a core consortium of 17partners, and about 100 network partners, including localgovernments, academia, business, and civil society. The net-work itself does not receive funding, but strives to promoteenvironmentally-sound economic opportunities. Key con-cerns include: protecting communities from loss of income,coastal protection, tourism and beach management, watermanagement and agriculture, ports and the maritime econ-omy, nature conservation and recreational use, and renew-able energy. It strives to bridge communication gaps byidentifying the differences between the knowledge needs ofpolicymakers and the knowledge provided by science. Envis-aged practical applications include combining coastal protec-tion construction with diving tourism activities, geothermalenergy generation, innovations in the aquaculture industry,and new marketing strategies for beach tourism. For example,networking and outreach about the benefits of artificial reefsattracts media attention and helps to promote dive tourism.International knowledge-sharing partnerships have alreadybrought benefits to riparian States in the Baltic Sea, as well asMorocco, Bangladesh, and the Chesapeake Bay in the U.S.

Dr. Toni Ruchimat, Director of Small Islands Managementin Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, pro-vided a national perspective and highlighted the stark realityof climate change in Indonesia, which has already lost 24 is-lands to rising sea level. The legal basis for Indonesia’s policies

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and programs for mitigation and adaptation includes a 2004Act conferring authority and responsibility to local govern-ments for the conservation of small islands and their naturalresources, and for the prevention of the impacts of climatechange. A 2007 Act established the obligation to integrate dis-aster risk reduction (DRR) and promote adaptation and miti-gation in managing the coastal zone and small islands withinthe framework of integrated coastal management. Due to con-cern about the higher vulnerability of about 8,000 coastal vil-lages, comprising a population of roughly 16 million, thatlack infrastructure, access to education, and some of whomare isolated from basic social services, a 2010 regulationstrengthened the voice and protection of small outer islandslacking the capacity for climate change resilience. Dr. Ruchi-mat also described the Marine and Fisheries Climate ChangeRoadmap, which encompasses a national monitoring and in-formation system with a Vulnerability Index, which uses 3Dmodels for mapping sea level rise projections for use in DRRand adaptation awareness-raising. DRR efforts in Indonesiainclude utilizing natural protection measures, such as man-groves, sand dunes, and coral reefs, as well as structural meas-ures, such as breakwaters, seawalls, dikes, elevated housing,and reef transplantation. Non-structural measures to reduceclimate risk include mapping disaster areas, transfer and relo-cation of people, shoreline and riverine zoning, public edu-cation, disaster simulation and training, and integratedcoastal and ocean management. Long-term goals for theroadmap include, the construction of pilot Climate ResilienceVillages, infrastructure improvements, and the integration ofDRR into coastal management frameworks.

Ms. Sara Aminzadeh, a Program Manager with the CaliforniaCoastkeepers Alliance, shared insights from civil society ef-forts to influence integrated, environmentally sustainable, cli-mate-smart coastal development at the municipal and countylevel in California. She described a “heavily armored” coast,referring to hard infrastructure “where the sand meets thewater”, which is at risk from the impacts of sea level rise. TheCoastkeepers Alliance is advocating for restoration of naturalshoreline infrastructure, and the creation of habitat buffersthat would be allowed to migrate with sea level rise. Seekingto mobilize public awareness, they have issued a report enti-tled “San Francisco Living With a Rising Bay”, and are striv-ing to work through municipal and state authorities tostrengthen the legal basis for the introduction and utilizationof climate-resilient guidelines.

Mr. Emmanuel Guérin, Director of the Climate Programmeat the Institute for Sustainable Development and Interna-tional Relations (IDDRI), France, described the difficulties inthe UNFCCC process, and noted that the Copenhagen Accordshould include oceans in the sections pertaining to adapta-tion and mitigation. He also recommended that the sharedvision under the UNFCCC should specifically recognize oceanacidification as being on par with global warming. Mr. Guérinflagged the significance of Blue Carbon to both mitigation

and adaptation, noting that greenhouse gas attribution bycountry needs to address unaccounted emissions and storageassociated with ocean and coastal ecosystems. Mr. Guérin em-phasized that in order to meet the $100 billion/year climate-financing goal, new revenue streams will need to bedeveloped and that the carbon markets that are now central-ized under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) willneed to be decentralized in the future.

Climate Change and Ocean AcidificationChaired by Dr. Carol Turley, Knowledge Exchange Coordina-tor of the UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme at thePlymouth Marine Laboratory, this panel brought togetherleading scientific experts to share the latest findings relatedto ocean acidification and the implications of not taking ur-gent action within the UNFCCC to mitigate the impacts ofacidification, while emphasizing the need for stringent emis-sions reductions. Dr. Turley summarized the central messageon acidification from Oceans Day: If you mitigate for climatechange, you mitigate for ocean acidification, and if you mit-igate for ocean acidification, you mitigate for climate change.

Dr. Tony Haymet, Director of the Scripps Institution ofOceanography and Vice-Chancellor for Marine Science at theUniversity of California, San Diego, stated that we must stopcarbon dioxide emissions in order to halt ocean acidification.Scientists have known for 50 years that atmospheric carbondioxide is rising. The science surrounding ocean acidificationclearly demonstrates that, as carbon is absorbed by the ocean,ocean acidity rises logarithmically. Increased carbon dioxideuptake in the oceans lowers pH (the lower the pH, the higherthe acidity), resulting in decreased levels of carbonate, a mol-ecule that is required by shell-forming sea life to form theirshells. As the level of carbonate is reduced through changes inocean chemistry caused by rising carbon dioxide levels, theseecologically important animals must expend enormousamounts of energy to form their shells. The ocean sciencecommunity is currently working to identify acidificationhotspots and is fostering cooperation and synergy throughdata-sharing networks and coordinated monitoring initiatives.Dr. Haymet stressed that further disruption of the fragile rela-tionship between ocean chemistry and marine life, especiallyecologically important microbial life, which accounts for 90%of marine biodiversity, could be disastrous. For this reason, Dr.Haymet warned against possible geoengineering solutions in-volving oceans, such as carbon sequestration in the seabed.

Dr. Carol Turley of the Plymouth Ma-rine Laboratory explored the latest scien-tific findings concerning oceanacidification impacts. Ocean acidifica-tion is clearly linked to atmospheric car-bon dioxide concentration, which is

currently at 390ppm (CO2 parts per million concentrations)and rising steadily. As ocean acidity rises, the shells of calcify-ing organisms get smaller and weaker, thereby inhibiting the

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growth, reproduction, and survival of commercially and eco-logically important species. As it becomes more difficult forcoral organisms to produce their shells, the balance betweenreef growth and natural erosion approaches a point where reefserode faster than the rate at which they can grow, compro-mising the services they provide and threatening the 9-12%of world fish catch from coral reef ecosystems. We are only be-ginning to understand the ecosystem effects and socio-eco-nomic implications of ocean acidification. Experiments on fishlarvae reveal that increasing mortality from predation is linkedto rising CO2 concentrations. Larvae tend to stay in the vicin-ity of a predator longer, and find it more difficult to find theirway home to reefs. The Mediterranean gives us a window intothe future of the impacts of rising CO2 on marine life, bystudying organisms around natural CO2 vents in the seabed.As you near these vents, which have acidity levels that couldbe reached by the end of the century, there are almost no shell-forming marine species. Polar oceans are also highly vulnera-ble. If CO2 emissions persist, it is predicted that 10% of Arcticsurface waters will be corrosive by 2018, 50% by 2050, and100% by the end of the century. Generations to come will notsee some of the organisms that exist today.

Dr. Turley also highlighted a recent UNEP report on oceanacidification and food security, which confirmed the impor-tance of the oceans as a protein source for approximately 3 bil-lion people, over half of whom depend on fisheries as theirsole source of protein, with coral reefs providing food for abouthalf a billion people. Fish stocks, however, are coming underincreasing stress from the combined impacts of overfishing,habitat loss, and acidification. However, new findings from theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicatethat robust and rapid mitigation scenarios with urgent emis-sions reductions can enable the oceans to recover quitequickly. There is also a need for increased investment in sci-entific research and in emerging programs facilitating dialoguebetween policymakers and scientists. If we do not act fast, Dr.Turley warned, ocean acidification will continue for a verylong time.

Ms. Ellycia Harrould-Kolieb, a leading marinescientist with Oceana and co-author of the“Acid Test: Can We Save Our Oceans FromCO2?” report, is a proponent of science-basedadvocacy to protect oceans, and focused her

presentation on issues that the UNFCCC will need to considerto address acidification through financing and policy frame-works. Since the root causes of ocean acidification and climatechange are the same, it seems logical that acidification of theoceans should be incorporated into climate change strategies;however, ocean science is still required to inform the UN-FCCC process. Science indicates that when oceanic CO2 lev-els are above 450ppm coral reef systems will be dead anddissolving. While many have identified 350ppm as a safefunctioning level, additional research is needed to better de-fine these thresholds. Because temperature is a driver of cli-

mate change, it would seem to make sense to use global tem-perature rise as an indicator for a mitigation program underthe UNFCCC. However, temperature does not drive oceanacidification and since many species, like squid, are directlyimpacted by increasing acidity, perhaps ocean pH levelsshould be used as an indicator to mitigate for ocean acidifi-cation. It is also important to identify differences in green-house gases, with a focus on CO2, which are not currentlydifferentiated under the UNFCCC. Another weakness in rely-ing on temperature as the indicator by which to mitigate cli-mate change is that it allows for certain geoengineeringschemes that focus on lowering temperature without reducingCO2, and thus do not mitigate the driver of ocean acidifica-tion and can negatively impact marine biodiversity.

The Hon. Rejoice Mabudafhasi, Deputy Minister of Waterand Environmental Affairs, South Africa, delivered a specialaddress, discussing how integrating oceans and climate withinthe UNFCCC process is a central concern for South Africa. Shehailed the progress under the CBD in deepening understand-ing of the effects of climate change on the oceans, as well asthe significance of restoring and sustaining coastal wetlandsas valuable Blue Carbon sinks, but at the same time called forcaution with regards to “quick-fix” solutions, such as geo-engineering, which could, through indirect or unintendedconsequences, threaten the livelihoods of people who dependon ocean and coastal ecosystems. She proposed bringing to-gether scientific and local community perspectives with afocus on the many co-benefits of ecosystem-based ap-proaches, for the next Oceans Day, which she looks forwardto hosting in Durban during COP-17. In closing, Mabudafhasiemphasized the importance of integrating the role of theoceans and prioritizing the differential vulnerability of coastalpeoples in the negotiations of the UNFCCC.

Deputy Minister RejoiceMabudafhasi

Over the last decade, we have witnessedwith satisfaction the growth in under-standing of the role of oceans in sustain-ing life on the planet. ... We must not seek

quick-fix solutions. We need discussions on geoengineering,as we will directly receive any indirect or unintended impactof these artificial interventions. We must not interfere withthe ocean’s natural functions until we fully understand theimpacts and functioning. This is about the livelihoods of ourpeople – what comes from the ocean gives us support. Butsince the oceans also support life on the planet, every personshall receive the benefit of our efforts to include oceans in thenegotiations of the UNFCCC. ...It is a long walk, and we willnot rest until we get it right; and we will not rest our headsuntil oceans are part of the [UNFCCC] negotiations.

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Linking the Science and Economics ofBlue CarbonThis panel, chaired by Dr. Brian Murray, Director for Eco-nomic Analysis at the Nicholas Institute for EnvironmentalPolicy Solutions, Duke University, examined the prospects forcreating a means to measure and economically value BlueCarbon. Dr. Murray explained that carbon stored around theworld in coastal ecosystems, such as mangroves, salt marshes,and seagrasses, while not as large in area as terrestrial habi-tats, are extremely important carbon sinks. Coastal carbonsinks are, however, being increasingly degraded or convertedfor activities such as agriculture, aquaculture, and coastal de-velopment. This not only compromises the ability of theseecosystems to store carbon, but can also release stored carbon.Coastal and marine ecosystems will continue to be degradedwithout policy intervention, and should be backed by a sys-tem of payment for Blue Carbon that economically rewardsthose who preserve coastal ecosystems. Such a system couldtake lessons from the REDD+ process, in order to bring BlueCarbon into the UNFCCC process.

Dr. Stephen Crooks, Climate Change Director, with the en-vironmental hydrology consultancy, ESA PWA, presented apreliminary analysis of carbon sinks and sources, explainingthat wetlands gradually accumulate sediments that representyears of carbon sequestration in soil buildup. Some peats canaccumulate depths of 8 meters or more, representing 5000years or more of carbon storage. While the coastal sequestra-tion process is relatively slow, wetlands emit large quantitiesof CO2 directly into the atmosphere when drained. A recentstudy demonstrated that the draining of a wetland system inSacramento, California for farming roughly 100 years ago hassince released over 4000 years in stored carbon. At a rate of10-15 million tons CO2 released per year, the total amount re-leased is equivalent to the amount of carbon stored in half ofCalifornia’s remaining forests. Two gigatons of carbon havebeen released by the destruction of this one wetland, morethan the emissions of some countries around the world.

In the US, a blue ribbon panel was created to incorporate tidalmarshes into the greenhouse gas offset voluntary market. ESAPWA, working with IUCN, the World Bank and others, pro-duced a new report, which looks at unaccounted CO2 emis-sions from drained coastal wetlands around the world. In theNorth Sea, tens of billions of tons of CO2 have been releasedthrough coastal development over the last 100 years. Majorriver deltas also represent significant sources of CO2 emissionsfrom wetland conversion for agriculture and development,including over 4 Gigatons (Gt) from the Mekong River, 2.5Gtfrom the Po delta, 1.5Gt from the Nile, and about 1.25Gt fromthe Indus River.

Dr. Crooks also discussed his work in estimating the size ofthe coastal carbon pool worldwide. Global tidal marsh andmangrove sinks at risk represent 200-600Gt of stored CO2. Ef-forts are needed to enable countries vulnerable to wetland loss

through land use change to value and conserve their wet-lands. Multiple studies looking at the relationship betweenwater table depth and CO2 emissions through peat decom-position show that emission rates rise in direct correlationwith wetland drainage. Additional studies have shown thatrates of carbon loss are much faster than rates of sequestra-tion with restoration, meaning that it is clearly much morecost-effective to protect against wetland destruction, ratherthan to restore wetlands after degradation. Dr. Crooks em-phasized that carbon emissions from coastal wetlands arereadily quantifiable, and the cost of finding out what happensto coastal wetlands in order to quantify both carbon storedand emissions released is worthwhile.

Ms. Dorothée Herr, from IUCN’s Global Marine and PolarProgramme, discussed the central points emanating from the“Capturing and Conserving Natural Coastal Carbon” report,which examined policy opportunities for natural coastal car-bon sinks. She sums up the key messages that need to be com-municated within (and outside) the UNFCCC process:

• Coastal ecosystems are vast unaccounted natural carbonsinks and become prominent sources of emissions if lostor degraded;

• These ecosystems are being lost and degraded at veryhigh rates;

• Integrated coastal management is a complement to aglobal approach to natural carbon management for cli-mate change mitigation, alongside terrestrial ecosystems;

• Some institutional and policy mechanisms for integratedcoastal management are readily available, while othersneed to be developed;

• There is a need for a common roadmap.

Ms. Herr discussed the efforts of the IUCN and others to in-corporate nature-based solutions in the climate changeprocesses, consistent with the UNFCCC mandate from Article4(d) of the convention: All Parties […] shall promote sustain-able management, and promote and cooperate in the conser-vation and enhancement, as appropriate, of sinks andreservoirs of all GHG not controlled by the Montreal protocol,including […] oceans as well as […] coastal and marine ecosys-tems. The Kyoto Protocol also refers to carbon sources and re-moval, which is moving forward with respect to forestry, but

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there is a need to now also includecoastal management in a global ap-proach to natural carbon managementfor climate change mitigation. Naturalcarbon management in the coastal zonegenerates multiple co-benefits. It is effec-tive not only for sequestering carbon butalso benefits marine biodiversity, fishnurseries, coastal water quality, coastlineand beach stabilization, with additionalbenefits for climate change adaptation, sustaining commu-nity resilience, and coastal livelihoods. Ms. Herr also notedthat lessons can be learned from the forest sector, and thatscience should be used to extend appropriate coastal ecosys-tems, such as mangroves, in REDD+ activities.

There is also an opportunity for developing a financial,“REDD-like” coastal mechanism, including incentives for soil-based carbon storage and sequestration, although furtherwork would be required to examine necessary safeguards forenvironmental integrity. A good place to begin is identifyingconservation and management actions as part of National Ap-propriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs).

Issues in need of further examination include alignment ofdefinitions with respect to coastal areas, improved ecosysteminventories, systematic collection of carbon data for coastalwetlands, application of science at the local level, ecologicalbaselines, as well as an analysis of access rights. The Blue Car-bon Initiative, a collaborative effort among Conservation In-ternational, IUCN, UNESCO-IOC, ESA PWA, Restore America’sEstuaries, and UNEP-WCMC to support coastal marine con-servation and management that maximizes sequestration ofcarbon, aims to develop a common roadmap for implement-ing economic incentives, policies, or other payment mecha-nisms for coastal carbon, establish a network ofdemonstration projects, and develop communication and ca-pacity-building tools.

Dr. Hendra Yusran Siry, Deputy Director for Technical Serv-ices, Research Centre for Marine and Fisheries Socio-Econom-ics (RCMFSE), Agency for Marine and Fisheries Research andDevelopment (AMFRD) in Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Af-fairs and Fisheries, contributed a national perspective on thechallenges and opportunities for Blue Carbon in Indonesia,based on participation in the UNFCCC negotiation process.

Indonesia recognizes the potential for Blue Carbon to deliverbenefits in both mitigation and adaptation to the adverse im-pacts of climate change, as well as the importance of coastaland marine ecosystem services to human well-being, includ-ing climate regulation at the global scale. Dr. Siry noted thata scientific basis is required to prove how much value is inecosystem services, and how much benefit can be derived forhuman beings from carbon storage. Dr. Siry also discussed thepractical policy and implementation issues, such as the inte-gration of the Blue Carbon concept into national develop-ment mechanisms, and methods to distinguish Blue Carbon

management from “business as usual” de-velopment activities. The Indonesian gov-ernment is committed to an extensive“Mangroves for the Future” program, es-tablishing the Sidoarjo mangrove geo-park and targeting 10 million hectares ofmarine protected area in 2010, and 20million hectares in the next 10 years.With a community-based approach,coastal communities are given the re-

sponsibility for conservation monitoring, and can managemangroves as part of their daily activities. For now, Dr. Siryconcluded, there is a need to see additional progress on link-ing the science and the economics of coastal habitat restora-tion “to see how we can afford it.”

Dr. Brian Murray, Director for Economic Analysis at theNicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at DukeUniversity and lead author of the policy brief, “Payments forBlue Carbon: Potential for Protecting Threatened CoastalHabitats”, presented a preliminary assessment of the eco-nomics of Blue Carbon. Dr. Murray and his research team ex-amined the costs of protecting coastal areas in light offoregone economic values derived from alternative use–e.g.the opportunity cost that would have to be compensated tothe landowner to not convert into another productive use.The team chose to look at shrimp farming, which is a lucra-tive coastal industry in many parts of the world, representinga high opportunity cost. Their analysis determined that aprice of roughly $12/ton CO2 was the cost-benefit break-evenprice, and that this was a viable price, based on current vol-untary carbon market values. This shows that payment forstorage of carbon in wetland soil sediments could be eco-nomically beneficial, even when displacing a high-value en-terprise such as shrimp farming.

There was general concern among panelists about the rapidloss of mangroves and the slow development of policy. Dr.Hendra Yusran Siry suggested that something “REDD-like”might be proposed to the UNFCCC by a group of like-mindedcountries as one way to get Blue Carbon into the UNFCCCnegotiations, but stressed that the request would require a ro-bust scientific basis. Ms. Herr pointed out that IUCN, ESAPWA, and others are teaming up trying to tackle the issuefrom all angles, and that it is important to forge links withIPCC guidelines. As REDD+ further develops, along with na-tional approaches and accounting mechanisms, opportuni-ties for projects to move forward with methodologies formangrove credits can be expected to follow.

Breakout Sessions: Developing an Integrated Approach to Climate and OceansCo-Chair Dr. Biliana Cicin-Sain and Dr. Miriam Balgos, Pro-gram Coordinator at the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts,and Islands, provided an overview of progress in developing

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an integrated approach to mitigation,adaptation, capacity-building, and cli-mate finance, inviting Oceans Day par-ticipants to reflect on the day’sdiscussions in three parallel breakoutsessions on adaptation, mitigation, andconsultation on the process leading upto the 2012 UN Conference on Sustain-able Development (Rio+20).

Discussions in the Mitigation breakoutgroup stressed that steep emission re-duction targets are necessary to create a workable frameworkto guide coordination across communities and sectors, andthat the private sector must be an active partner in discussionson emissions reductions. Next steps needed for Blue Carboninclude better information on sequestration rates and method-ologies, but not just for inclusion within mitigation finance.The group felt that the IPCC should review Blue Carbon morebroadly to ensure protection of other ecosystem services andgenerate guidelines. Outreach is needed on NAPAs in order toinclude restoration of mangroves, where applicable, for miti-gation (ensuring other co-benefits). Discussions also focusedon the great potential of offshore renewable energy, but notedthat more information is needed on issues such as environ-mental and ecological costs, and technical and technologicalviability. Participants also noted that high targets for emis-sions reductions are needed to stimulate increased demand forocean-based renewable energy. On the issue of bunker fuels,participants noted that dialogue should focus on targets forthe shipping industry to reduce emissions from ships. With re-spect to geo-engineering solutions, participants expressed se-rious concern about the potential environmental impacts andstated that more research needs to be done before these op-tions can be pursued.

The Adaptation and Financing breakout group considered ca-pacity development, public education, and policy develop-ment as integral to the implementation of adaptation, andemphasized the need to facilitate experience-sharing, to em-power local communities, and for climate financing to sup-port the establishment of participatory early warning andearly action systems as an international priority. Strengthen-ing institutional capacity for adaptation, and integratingcoastal and ocean management institutions at the national,regional, and local levels begins with these questions: How todefine the scope (e.g. delimitation of the coastal zone)? Arethere models that can be copied? Are there existing institu-tions that can be expanded? Participants also discussed thedecentralization of activities to the lowest feasible level as thekey to empowering coastal communities to manage their ownadaptation. Ecosystem-based adaptation strategies, as an ef-fective means to increase the resilience of communities andecosystems, need practical means for experience sharing inorder to be scaled up. The group also discussed the need forthe development of the global pool of adaptation knowledge.

Best practice and project assessmentservices should tap into systems that en-able experience sharing, such as the En-ergyIO Wikimedia system, Google EarthEngine, and UNDP’s online adaptationlearning mechanism (ALM). Partici-pants also noted that disaster risk re-duction should be a priority foradaptation financing. Participants feltthat the deployment of early warningsystems is critical for disaster risk reduc-

tion and this aspect of adaptation should receive priority fast-track climate finance, noting that initial resources can comefrom the UNFCCC, but that these systems must be sustainedby user communities at all levels in order to ensure capacityis built for integrated early action.

The breakout group on the Rio+20 process was introduced byDr. Biliana Cicin-Sain, with background information preparedby Dr. Miriam Balgos. The Global Forum on Oceans, Coastsand Islands came into being in the lead-up to the 2002 WorldSummit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), when leadersin the oceans community mobilized to push for greater in-ternational attention to oceans and coasts. The 2002 WSSDled to some very significant targets and timetables on oceans,coasts, and SIDS. Rio+20 will review progress on WSSD targetsand bring all the conventions together under two newthemes: Transition to a global green economy, and improvinginstitutional frameworks for sustainable development. Devel-oped and European countries are already moving in this di-rection, as are Asian countries. The president of Korea, forexample, has set policy to transform the Korean economythrough a low-carbon green growth vision based on the ideathat research and development investments will make Koreaa powerhouse in green markets. China also is making clear itsintention to move rapidly in the field of alternative energy.Yet there exist major concerns about the green economy con-cept, related to diversity in approaches, privatization of na-ture, aid conditionality, and the possibility of the greeneconomy becoming a “straight jacket” for the developingworld that is neither green nor sustainable.

The Global Forum has begun a preparatory process leadingup to the next Global Oceans Conference in Korea (tenta-tively set for February 2012) several months before the Rio+20summit. Critical assessments will consider what the oceanscommunity worldwide has and has not achieved, and the ef-fectiveness of the existing framework for ocean governance.Working groups involving about 250 people from over 70countries will conduct these assessments, with some GlobalForum support, and through regional meetings in Europe,Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The Global Forum is collabo-rating with UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs(UNDESA) to channel these ocean, coastal, and islandprocesses and inputs into the Rio+20 process. Participants dis-cussed the importance of carrying out effective assessments

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of the major ocean and coastal issues and of working with na-tional delegations to ensure that oceans are included in theRio+20 process. Participants also discussed the growing in-terest among coastal and island countries in fostering a coastalcaucus among UNFCCC parties for putting ocean and coastalpolicy on the UNFCCC agenda.

Closing Remarks Dr. Antonio Diaz de Leon,Director-General, Environmental,Regional Integration and Sectoral Policy, Environment andNatural Resources Ministry (SEMARNAT), Mexico, gave a spe-cial closing address, where he discussed the five most seriousthreats to oceans and coasts: overfishing; pollution; habitat de-struction; species introduction; and climate change. He ex-plained how these problems make it difficult for countries toachieve targets established through international negotiationprocesses, such as the UNFCCC. He also underscored the needto economically value the costs of adaptive action versus in-action in order to persuade decision makers to invest in riskreduction and prevention. He noted that we need to change‘business as usual’, especially within the UNFCCC, where a bal-anced package can only be built on the wealthier countriesacting on their commitments to assist developing countriesexperiencing damages and losses due to climate change.

Dr. Antonio Diaz de Leon

We need a pragmatic approach, to use the lessons we havelearned: we need to talk market language, because talkingecosystems doesn’t count. We need to value the cost of action–and of inaction. We need to link to the human dimension,which includes casualties, diminished structures, livelihoods,rather than talking about a diminished environment. We needto invest in prevention, and in effective M&E (monitoring andevaluation). We also need public participation, to involve localpeople at all levels to build a resilient society. And we needchampions, people who can grab the flag and move it. Weneed to be ocean-minded!

With thanks to partners, presenters, and participants for thestrides made together at Oceans Day in Cancún, Dr. BilianaCicin-Sain noted real progress in clearly articulating ocean andcoastal messages that need to be integrated into the UNFCCCprocess. She called for persistence and commitment, under-lining the need to press on, and for the many different insti-tutions and groups coming together to continue in coherent,cooperative, and collaborative effort. She highlighted promis-ing opportunities in the elaboration of a global framework forclimate financing, the development of networks of researcherson ocean acidification, and the robust multi-disciplinary andmulti-institutional community emerging on Blue Carbon.Building on the high-level attention attracted in Copenhagen,the Global Oceans Conference 2010, and Oceans Day atNagoya at the CBD COP 10, Dr. Cicin-Sain noted that there isevery reason to expect progress in bringing an integrated oceanand climate agenda into the UNFCCC process, and in workingtogether to get this issue into the next UNFCCC COP in SouthAfrica. Dr. Cicin-Sain also emphasized the need to encouragethe establishment of an ocean and coastal focal point or groupwithin the UNFCCC, and the need to take a staged approachto priorities, as practical ways to build the necessary politicalconsensus. In closing Oceans Day, Dr. Cicin-Sain praised the ef-forts of the oceans community, “which may take a long timeto pay off - but will pay off.”

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The world’s oceans play a central role in global climateprocesses, generating oxygen, absorbing carbon dioxide andregulating climate and temperature. But climate change isnow threatening the oceans’ ability to continue to providethese services. The more than 50% of the human populationthat lives in 183 coastal countries, including 44 small islandnations, are already experiencing the earliest and most pro-nounced effects of climate change, and will suffer dispropor-tionate impacts from ocean warming--e.g., sea level rise,extreme weather events, glacial retreat, and from ocean acid-ification if bold action is not taken.

However, although oceans and coasts are inextricably linkedto climate, they have not yet figured prominently on theagenda of the UNFCCC and have largely been regarded as a“sectoral nuisance.”

Oceans Day at Cancu�n, which was organized by the GlobalForum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands, in association with theGlobal Environment Facility (GEF), the Secretaries of Envi-ronment and Natural Resources of the Mexican States ofCampeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan, and the Secretariatof Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), Mexico,in collaboration with other partners, brought together close to100 representatives from government, intergovernmental,non-governmental, academia, museums and aquaria, and theprivate sectors to emphasize the importance of consideringoceans in the climate negotiations of the UNFCCC.

This was the second Oceans Day to be held in the context ofa UNFCCC COP, building on Oceans Day at UNFCCC COP15 in Copenhagen, held on December 14, 2009(http://www.oceansday.org/).

Growing Scientific Evidence on Climate and OceansRecent scientific evidence indicates that impacts of the chang-ing global climate on oceans and coasts far exceed the find-ings of the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC).

Sea-Level Rise

-- There is now compelling evidence that sea level rise willbe at least 1 meter by 2100, with the possibility of evenhigher levels of sea level rise likely.

Glacial Retreat

-- Polar ice is continuing to melt at a rapid rate, contribut-ing to global sea level rise and the potential alteration ofocean currents and ecological processes.

Ocean Acidification

-- The oceans have increased in acidity by 30 per cent sincethe industrial revolution and are predicted to becomeeven more acidic, undergoing a change in ocean chem-istry not seen for 65 million years. Ocean acidificationsignificantly hinders the ability of shell-forming organisms (such as corals and shellfish) to construct theirshells, and can impact marine species distribution, notably fisheries, with negative implications for food se-curity. Fish, including shellfish, provide one billion peo-ple with their primary source of animal protein, andanother three billion people with 15 per cent of their protein.

Oceans and Coasts in the Global Carbon CycleOceans and coastal areas are a major sink for carbon and avaluable tool for climate change mitigation. Marine areasstore and cycle over 90 per cent of the earth’s CO2, while removing about 30 per cent of atmospheric CO2--current estimates conclude that the oceans have an annual net at-mospheric uptake in the order of 2 gigatons of CO2 (GtCO2).This is of particular importance when compared to the an-nual net terrestrial uptake, estimated between 0.5–2.5 GtCO2.However, the oceans are quickly becoming oversaturated with CO2, which is negatively impacting biodiversity andecosystems. This emphasizes the need for stringent emissionsreductions.

The ability of oceans and coasts to store carbon is also beingcompromised by the rapid destruction and degradation ofcoastal and marine ecosystems. Stored carbon dioxide is released when coastal ecosystems are destroyed, which canbecome a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emis-sions. For example, 13.5 GtCO2 will be released within thenext 50 years as a result of mangrove clearance of 35,000 km2,equivalent to all transport-related emissions in 27 EU coun-tries from 1997 to 2005.

Climate Change and Marine BiodiversityThe linkages between climate and biodiversity were under-scored at the Tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Partiesto the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 10) inNagoya, Japan, October 18-29, 2010. Parties in Nagoya high-lighted that climate change impacts, which are predicted toincrease in the future, have significant implications for biodi-versity and will serve to exacerbate the negative impacts of other harmful human activities. The Nagoya Oceans State-

Co-Chairs’ Statement emanating from

Cancu� n Oceans Day: Essential to Life, Essential to Climateat the Sixteenth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,

December 4, 2010, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Cancu�n, Mexico

ment (emanating from the Nagoya Oceans Day organized bythe Global Forum on Oceans. Coasts, and Islands, October 23,2010; please see: http://globaloceans.org/sites/udel.edu.glob-aloceans/files/Nagoya_Oceans_Statement.pdf) emphasizedthat many life-sustaining ecosystems, such as coral reefs, arehighly sensitive to climate change, and that climate changeadds an additional stressor to biodiversity and ecosystems al-ready facing significant pressures. Climate change will likelyresult in species migrations, the spread of invasive species, andwill have adverse impacts on fisheries and food security. Fur-ther, a 20-25 per cent loss of marine biodiversity leads to a 50-80 per cent loss of ecosystem function, which may wellthreaten the life support function of the oceans and their rolein the global carbon cycle.

Coastal AdaptationOver half of the world’s population living within 100 kilo-meters of the coast is living less than 100 meters above sealevel. Coastal populations, and especially small-island devel-oping states (SIDS), are highly vulnerable to the impacts ofsea-level rise, glacial retreat, extreme weather events, andcoastal inundation. Ecosystem-based adaptation approachespromoting the preservation and restoration of coastal ecosys-tems and natural buffers, some of which are already being implemented as part of integrated coastal management effortsin many coastal nations, must be strengthened and promotedto increase the resilience of coastal ecosystems and commu-nities to the impacts of climate change. However, many areaslack the necessary capacity to implement adequate adapta-tion measures. Hence, there is an urgent need for technicaland financial adaptation assistance2 for the world’s most vulnerable coastal populations.

Climate Change Financing for Coastal and Island PopulationsCurrent adaptation cost estimates for coastal areas and smallisland states are woefully inadequate, as are the adaptationresources currently available. In 2007, the UNFCCC estimatedthe cost of adaptation in coastal zones at about $11 bil-lion/year, using lower sea level rise predictions and not in-cluding potential impacts of increased storm intensity. Withover half of the world’s population living in coastal regionsand likely to experience the most pronounced effects of climate change, at least half of the funds made available foradaptation should target coastal and island populations.

While progress is being made in the assessment of adaptationcosts for developing countries, existing sectoral estimates remain fragmented and incomplete. For example, most costestimates for sea level rise focus on infrastructure damage, butdo not address saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers and thedestruction of habitats that support fisheries and mariculture.In addition, the significant monetary non-market value asso-ciated with coastal and ocean services are largely unaccountedfor. For example, current valuations of wetland services do not

incorporate the values associated with coastal storm protec-tion, water filtration, and spawning grounds for commerciallyimportant fish species.

In addition, costs of impacts on coastal and marine ecosys-tems and the critical economic and climate-regulating func-tions they provide have not been addressed at all. Adaptationfinancing support for developing countries has been hailedsince the inception of the UNFCCC process in 1992, yet littlehas actually materialized. There is, therefore, an obvious needto incorporate adequate financing for coastal adaptation intoany forthcoming climate regime.

Integrated Strategy on Oceans and CoastsIn light of the various interconnected elements associatedwith oceans and climate, members of the global oceans com-munity--governments, international agencies, NGOs, sciencegroups, and the private sector--are mobilizing to call attentionto the oceans and climate issue. The Global Oceans Confer-ence 2010, held on May 3-7, 2010 at UNESCO, Paris, broughttogether over 800 participants from 80 countries, who un-derscored the need to develop an integrated strategy foroceans and coasts within and beyond the UNFCCC. Such aprogram should include provisions for:

(i) Mitigation, emphasizing the need for stringent reductions in emissions within a short time frame, andrecognizing the positive contribution that oceans playin the global carbon cycle, as well as using the oceansfor a variety of mitigation activities.

(ii) Adaptation through integrated coastal and oceanmanagement institutions at local and regional scales,contributing to the improved preparedness, resilience,and adaptive capacities of coastal communities;

(iii)Programs focusing on capacity development, publiceducation and awareness to prepare national andlocal officials, and the public to address climatechange; and

(iv) Measures to address the issues associated with the displacement of coastal populations as a result of climate change.

Priority Actions at UNFCCC COP 16 and BeyondAs an important step in the Rio+20 process, the oceans com-munity recommends taking the following actions to advancethe global oceans and climate agenda both within the UN-FCCC and in the overall Rio+20 process:

1. Enact stringent and immediate reductions inCO2 emissions

• Ensure the continuing functioning of the oceans in sus-taining life on Earth by adopting the most stringent re-ductions in greenhouse gas emissions, within a shorttimeframe, to avoid disastrous consequences on 3oceans and coastal communities around the world;

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• Avoid dangerous levels of ocean acidification by reduc-ing CO2 emissions; and

• Incorporate issues related to oceans and climate into thediscussions of the UNFCCC Ad Hoc Working Group onLong-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) and anysubsequent agreements on emissions reductions.

2. Deepen understanding of “Blue carbon”

• Natural carbon sinks in coastal areas (e.g., mangroves,seagrass beds, kelp forests, tidal marshes), which have agreater capacity (per unit of area) than terrestrial carbonsinks in achieving long-term carbon sequestration insediments, have not yet been considered in the UN-FCCC context;

• Support additional research on quantifying the amountsof carbon stored and released by various marine andcoastal ecosystems; and

• Further examine the potential for the trading of “Bluecarbon” in a similar way to green carbon (such as rain-forests) and how this could be incorporated into emis-sion and climate mitigation protocols.

3. Accelerate progress on mitigation approachesusing oceans and coasts

• Develop ocean-based renewable energy (such as off-shore wind power, wave energy, tidal power, etc.); andaccelerate efforts to implement these approachesthrough marine spatial planning;

• Accelerate efforts to reduce CO2 emissions from ships;and �

• Consider and develop regulatory systems for carboncapture and storage via injection in deep seabed geo-logical formations. �

• Discourage other geo-engineering approaches, such asiron fertilization, CO2 injection in water column

4. Undertake climate change adaptation in vulnerable coastal areas

• Encourage and implement ecosystem-based adaptationstrategies, including marine protected areas, through in-tegrated coastal and ocean management institutions atnational, regional, and local levels to build the pre-paredness, resilience, and adaptive capacities of coastalcommunities; and

• Provide sufficient funding to support adaptation forcoastal and island communities that are at the frontlineof climate change in 183 coastal countries, consideringthe creation of a special Coastal Adaptation Fund.

5. Work with coastal countries to raise awarenessabout the implications of climate change im-pacts on ocean and coastal areas

• Call for recognition in the UNFCCC negotiating text ofthe important role played by oceans in climate-- gener-ating oxygen, absorbing carbon dioxide and regulatingclimate and temperature;

• Mobilize broad-based support for the oceans and cli-mate agenda within the UNFCCC process and in theRio+20 process leading up to the UN Conference on Sus-tainable Development in May 2012 in Brazil; and

• Work towards the creation of an integrated oceans andcoasts program within and beyond the UNFCCC by2013, emphasizing the elements noted above.

Climate change impacts are not only projected into the fu-ture but constitute a present and immediate threat. In the Sey-chelles, for example, desalinization plants can no longer meetdemand for freshwater because rainfall has reduced dramati-cally, leading to difficult tradeoffs between water and foodprovision and presenting challenges in balancing sustainabledevelopment with sustaining the tourism industry. The Sey-chelles, and other small island nations, are in danger of be-coming failed states if bold action is not taken.

There is abundant scientific evidence that marine ecosystemsare undergoing substantial changes--physically, chemicallyand biologically--due to the direct and indirect effects ofchanges in climate and atmospheric composition. These im-pacts will have local, national, regional and global implica-tions. If left unaddressed, climate change will severely impactmarine ecosystems resulting in lasting change which may bedifficult, and in some cases impossible, to adapt to both. It isimperative that climate change impacts on oceans and coastsbe considered both within and outside the UNFCCC both forour planetary survival and human well-being.

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About the Global Forum onOceans, Coasts, and IslandsThe Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islandswas first mobilized in 2001 to help the world’s

governments highlight issues related to oceans, coasts, andSmall Island Developing States (SIDS) on the agenda of the 2002World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), and waslater formalized at the WSSD in Johannesburg. The GlobalForum is a response to perceived needs:

• for fostering cross-sectoral dialogue on ocean issues amonggovernments, NGOs, international organizations, and theprivate and scientific sectors

• for constant advocacy for oceans at the highest political levels

• for taking an ecosystem-based and integrated approach tooceans governance at national, regional, and global levels

Since 2001, the Global Forum has involved ocean experts rep-resenting all sectors from 105 countries to advance the globaloceans agenda by: 1) promoting the implementation of inter-national agreements related to oceans, coasts, and SIDS, especially the goals emanating from the 2002 WSSD; 2) analyz-ing new emerging issues such as improving the governanceregime for ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction and ad-dressing the impacts of climate change; and 3) promoting international consensus-building on unresolved ocean issues.

The Global Oceans Conferences provide the major opportunityfor all sectors of the global oceans community-- governments,international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, indus-try, and scientific groups-- to address the major policy issues af-fecting the oceans at global, regional, and national levels and tomake progress in advancing the global oceans agenda.

The Global Forum has organized five Global Conferences (in2001, 2003, 2006, and 2010 at UNESCO in Paris and in 2008 inHanoi, Vietnam); co-organized the Global Ocean Policy Daywith the Government of Indonesia during the World OceanConference 2009; organized the Oceans Day at Copenhagenduring the UNFCCC climate negotiations in December 2009;organized the Ocean Policy Summit in Lisbon in 2005 docu-menting experiences with integrated oceans governance incountries and regions around the world; prepared a number of“report cards” on the implementation of the WSSD ocean tar-gets and of the 1994 Barbados Programme of Action for SIDS; reports on ocean issues in island states; reports on capacity development needs on ocean and coastal management in different world regions; and provided a series of Internet infor-mation services, including periodic newsletters.

In late 2006, the Global Forum began a strategic planning effortin collaboration with governments, United Nations agencies,NGOs, industry, and scientific groups, to advance the globaloceans agenda over the ten-year period to 2016. Twelve Multi-national Expert Working Groups, involving 254 experts from72 countries, are considering the major global oceans issues,identifying strategic opportunities for advancing the globalgoal/target in the next decade, and recommending priority action steps for implementation by national and internationaldecisionmakers.

See http://www.globaloceans.org

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Contact Information:

For additional information on Oceans Dayplease contact:

Dr. Biliana Cicin-SainCo-Chair and Head of Secretariat, Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts,

and IslandsDirector, Gerard J. Mangone Center for Marine Policy

301 Robinson HallUniversity of Delaware

Newark, Delaware 19716 USATel: +1-302-831-8086Fax: +1-302-831-3668E-mail: bcs@udel.edu

Internet: http://www.globaloceans.org