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The Clean Ocean International Expert Group of the UN Decade for Ocean Science for Sustainable Development will formally present its short list of activities and goals, and a strategy to reach them, in a “manifesto” at the outset of a three-day online conference on achieving a clean ocean, Weds. 17 to Fri. 19 Nov. (https://bit.ly/3EQHRfQ). 

(Leaders of the Clean Ocean International Expert Group are available for advance interviews.

The group’s “Manifesto for Clean Ocean 2030” is appended below in full.

They will also take part in an online UN conference, “A Clean Ocean, Where Sources of Pollution are Identified and Removed,” Weds. 17 to Fri. 19 Nov. (full program: bit.ly/3EQHRfQ; registration: bit.ly/3oo7NZH)

High-res images: www.oceandecade-conference.com/en/press.html

Contact: Terry Collins, tc@tca.tc, +1-416-878-8712)

Interim goals for 2025 and an integrated ocean debris observing system exemplify demands of experts’ “Clean Ocean Manifesto.”

Reducing marine debris by 50-90% and a globe circling, high-tech system of monitors are two essential aims among several championed today by nine distinguished international experts appointed to help the UN reach the goal of a clean ocean by 2030.

Co-Chaired by Angelika Brandt of Germany, a Southern Ocean / Antarctica biodiversity expert, and Elva Escobar Briones of Mexico, a deep sea biodiversity expert, the group concisely outlines “the challenges and some of the opportunities that the Ocean Decade can provide for a Clean Ocean.”

The statement charts the most direct route to a clean ocean citing these objectives for 2030: Enlarge understanding of pathways for spread and fates of pollutants; Reduce and remove top-priority forms of pollution (e.g., marine debris) by large amounts, as much as 50% to 90%

To prevent recurrence, reduce sources or emission of pollutants (e.g., anthropogenic noise, discarded plastic and harmful chemicals, farming practices adding harmful sediment outflow). Improve dramatically the outcomes of control measures (e.g., to decrease amounts of mercury in tuna, die-offs of marine life, eutrophication). Improve monitoring (often as part of the Global Ocean Observing System [GOOS]) for more accurate, precise, timely, comprehensive real-time tracing of spills and monitoring of ocean soundscapes; improve systems to provide timely warning of pollutants emerging and increasing.

Identify and accelerate development and adoption of technologies to promote a Clean Ocean. These could range from cleaner, more efficient motors and fuels to new forms of remediation and waste management; better ways to monitor, track, and map marine pollutants and progress toward a clean ocean (such as aerial remote sensing, genomics, and hydrophone arrays); and better technologies for emergency cleanup.

Improve national mechanisms (legal, regulatory) for control and prevention, better align financial incentives, and lift compliance with international treaties.

Lift public engagement and understanding with access to information associated with behavioral shifts favoring the motto of “reduce, reuse and recycle” and encourage participation in citizen science as part of events involving sailing, surfing, and other activities dependent on a Clean Ocean

With such a framework agreed and in place, specific objectives can be identified and efforts activated, with targets and timetables similar in scope and character to next spring’s anticipated world agreement to protect 30% of the marine environment by 2030, and the completion of high-resolution mapping of the seabed, also by 2030.

Interim objectives for 2025

The expert group underlined that, “This process should aim to define and attract financial and other support to meet an initial set of goals for 2025, followed by goals for the end of the Ocean Decade in 2030.”

And they set out examples of nearer term objectives for 2025: Quantify the global harm of marine pollution from all major sources on ecosystems and organisms and on human health; assessment methods need to take into account multiple stressors. Survey the totality of anthropogenic chemicals flowing into the oceans.

Define a Clean Ocean, including acceptable levels of pollution to set threshold values, and define ecological boundaries or maximal levels of pollutants as well as their rates of degradation to maintain well-functioning ecosystems; this includes understanding tolerances of species and ecosystems to pollutants.

Develop a widely shared vision of a Clean Ocean.

Identify high-priority geographic challenges such as polar regions and urban coasts. Identify barriers to action impeding scaling up solutions for regional and global impact; quantify possibilities for amelioration. Identify key partners, including those who might be left behind, and provide engagement strategies for early career ocean professionals, indigenous peoples, and island communities. Develop reference scenarios for industrialization of the oceans during the next decade, including tourism, seabed mining, windfarm development, for example, as they relate to a Clean Ocean.

Develop initial estimates of costs associated with transitions to a Clean Ocean.

Secure major financial commitments.

“By 2030 we want to achieve measurable improvement in monitoring and clear reduction of emissions and harm through a spectrum of technical and behavioral strategies,” the group says.

The three-day on-line conference Nov. 17-19 will highlight more than 30 activities in place or in development around the world that can make important contributions by 2030 to a Clean Ocean. 

These include initiatives to:

Successfully and consistently monitor marine debris from space as part of an Integrated Global Marine Debris Observing System; Operate deep sea observatories in the Atlantic that document and publicize multiple stressors; Observe the vast Southern Ocean to give early warnings of possible pollution hot spots in this relatively pristine ocean; Instrument 30% of coastal city ocean spaces to report on pollution changes including restoration; Identify and greatly reduce persistent organic pollutants globally.

The manifesto, which presents the signatories’ views and not official positions of their respective institutions, is also directed at other groups such as the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, the Economist magazine World Ocean Initiative, and the World Ocean Council. 

The group plans to share its manifesto with other expert groups, national committees, and with endorsed projects and programs of the UN Ocean Decade to speed development of a strong set of Clean Ocean activities.

Says lead author Jesse Ausubel, Director of the Program for the Human Environment at The Rockefeller University, New York City: “We want this decade to transition from increasing to decreasing the environmental problems of the oceans.”

Clean Ocean International Expert Group Co-Chairs

Angelika Brandt, biodiversity of the Southern Ocean and Antarctica; Germany

Elva Escobar Briones, biodiversity of the deep sea; Mexico

Members

Frida Armas-Pfirter, marine and coastal law; Argentina

Jesse Huntley Ausubel, technologies for ocean observing; USA, lead author

Gina Bonne, environment and climate, Seychelles

Saskia Brix-Elsig, polar seafloor biology; Germany

Angelique Songco, marine protected areas; Philippines

Kaveh Samimi-Namin, coral reef ecosystems; Iran

Sofia Fürstenberg Stott, maritime industry innovation; Sweden

Links

UN Decade for Ocean Science for Sustainable Development

www.oceandecade-conference.com/en/program.html

Creating the Ocean We Want

www.oceandecade-conference.com/en/creating-the-ocean-we-want.html

Clean Ocean Laboratory  

www.oceandecade-conference.com/en/a-clean-ocean.html

Ocean Decade Factsheet

www.oceandecade-conference.com/files/Factsheet%20Ocean%20Decade.pdf 

* * * * *

In full: Manifesto for Clean Ocean 2030

Clean Ocean International Expert Group, in anticipation of the Ocean Decade Laboratory

A Clean Ocean, 17-19 November 2021

A clean ocean where sources of pollution are identified and removed

Comprising 71% of Earth’s surface, the ocean encompasses remote trackless seas and heavily trafficked harbors. It spans the seafloor through the water column to the sea surface and extends from coastal zones to mid-ocean. The ocean spans habitats from beaches and rocky shores to reefs and canyons and polar and deep seas. A Clean Ocean benefits both humanity and the spectrum of other forms of life ranging from whales and fish to mollusks, corals, and seagrasses with which we share it. Our Manifesto for Clean Ocean 2030 aims to increase circularity of the economy in the face of increasing industrialization of the oceans and promote mobilization to manage ocean pollution at its sources in ways that enable both a profitable Blue Economy and a Clean Ocean.

Ocean Pollutants – Many forms of pollution threaten or already dirty the ocean:

Debris, including plastics; Oil and chemical spills and releases from seafloor extraction, pipelines, and shipping; Runoff of fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals from agriculture and both rural and suburban areas; Sewage and other coastal runoff, including pharmaceuticals, from urban areas and harbors, and associated harmful algal blooms; Contaminants that, although settled in sediments, can be remobilized by disturbances; Sewage and other improperly discarded wastes from vessels; Acute and chronic elevation of noise and light; Radiation from radioactive materials deposited or discharged into the oceans ; Invasive species and other harmful aspects of bilge and ballast water carelessly released; Construction debris from platform and island building, spoils from channel dredging and pipe-laying, and derelict facilities; Abandoned and discarded equipment from ocean navigation and research and military activities

Threats to a Clean Ocean

Pollution in the ocean comes from land-based and atmospheric sources and from the sea itself.

Land sources include agricultural fertilizers (causing deoxygenation or dead zones), herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and other materials employed in the bioeconomy; micro- and macro-plastics from carelessly used and discarded products; non-metabolized medicines and other drugs from human consumption; detergents and many other chemicals that form parts of urban and industrial metabolism; heavy metals from mining; and brine from marine water desalination.

Atmospheric sources include greenhouse gases (primarily generated on land) associated with climate change and acidification; forms of sulfur, nitrogen, mercury, and other harmful pollutants generated both at sea and on land; noise from aviation and wind farms, and dust from anthropogenic fires.

Sea sources include spills from extraction, transport, and use of petroleum products; ship sources of waste, including discarded fishing gear and other forms of waste; untreated wastewater from recreational and commercial vessels; deep-sea tailing placements; lubricants and other chemicals from offshore facilities; underwater noise from shipping, mining, fishing, and pile driving; and night-time illumination of vessels and fleets.

Since 1969 the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) has examined these and other threats to the Clean Ocean and provided authoritative, independent, interdisciplinary scientific advice to organizations and governments to support the protection and sustainable use of the marine environment.

The Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development

Launched in January 2021, the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), the “Ocean Decade,” is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for ocean actors across the world to come together to generate knowledge and foster the partnerships needed to support a well-functioning, productive, resilient, sustainable, and inspiring ocean. We propose that the leadership of the Ocean Decade organize Clean Ocean activities in the following way:

Collect the major Clean Ocean recommendations from the reports of GESAMP and other expert bodies, such as national academies of sciences.

Consolidate and reduce these and other inputs to a set of not more than ten global goals for a Clean Ocean. New targets and timetables should be similar in scope and character to the Endorsed Recommendations to protect 30% of the marine environment by 2030 and complete the high-resolution mapping of the seabed by 2030.

Work with the many concerned entities worldwide to coordinate and optimize roles and contributions so the Decade will achieve historic collaborative global objectives for a Clean Ocean.

This process should aim to define and attract financial and other support to meet an initial set of goals for 2025, followed by goals for the end of the Ocean Decade in 2030.

Examples of Clean Ocean objectives for 2025

Quantify the global harm of marine pollution from all major sources on ecosystems and organisms and on human health; assessment methods need to take into account multiple stressors.

Survey the totality of anthropogenic chemicals flowing into the oceans.

Define a Clean Ocean, including acceptable levels of pollution to set threshold values, and define ecological boundaries or maximal levels of pollutants as well as their rates of degradation to maintain well-functioning ecosystems; this includes understanding tolerances of species and ecosystems to pollutants.

Develop a widely shared vision of a Clean Ocean.

Identify high-priority geographic challenges such as polar regions and urban coasts.

Identify barriers to action impeding scaling up solutions for regional and global impact; quantify possibilities for amelioration.

Identify key partners, including those who might be left behind, and provide engagement strategies for early career ocean professionals, indigenous peoples, and island communities.

Develop reference scenarios for industrialization of the oceans during the next decade, including tourism, seabed mining, windfarm development, for example, as they relate to a Clean Ocean.

Develop initial estimates of costs associated with transitions to a Clean Ocean.

Secure major financial commitments.

By 2025 we aim to identify potential pathways toward solutions for knowing what is manageable. By 2030 we want to achieve measurable improvement in monitoring and clear reduction of emissions and harm through a spectrum of technical and behavioral strategies.

Examples of Clean Ocean objectives for 2030

Enlarge understanding of pathways for spread and fates of pollutants.

Reduce and remove top-priority forms of pollution (e.g., marine debris) by large amounts, as much as 50% to 90%.

To prevent recurrence, reduce sources or emission of pollutants (e.g., anthropogenic noise, discarded plastic and harmful chemicals, farming practices adding harmful sediment outflow).

Improve dramatically the outcomes of control measures (e.g., to decrease amounts of mercury in tuna, die-offs of marine life, eutrophication).

Improve monitoring (often as part of the Global Ocean Observing System [GOOS]) for more accurate, precise, timely, comprehensive real-time tracing of spills and monitoring of ocean soundscapes; improve systems to provide timely warning of pollutants emerging and increasing.

Identify and accelerate development and adoption of technologies to promote a Clean Ocean. These could range from cleaner, more efficient motors and fuels to new forms of remediation and waste management; better ways to monitor, track, and map marine pollutants and progress toward a clean ocean (such as aerial remote sensing, genomics, and hydrophone arrays); and better technologies for emergency cleanup.

Improve national mechanisms (legal, regulatory) for control and prevention, better align financial incentives, and lift compliance with international treaties.

Lift public engagement and understanding with access to information associated with behavioral shifts favoring the motto of “reduce, re-use and recycle” and encourage participation in citizen science as part of events involving sailing, surfing, and other activities dependent on a Clean Ocean.

Now is the time for ambitious targets and timetables to elicit the science for the Clean Ocean we want.

Contact: Terry Collins, tc@tca.tc, +1-416-878-8712

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Glasgow/New York, November 11 – The United Nations said some “progress” has been made at the Glasgow Climate Change Conference as countries and more than 1,000 cities around the world have committed to reach net zero emissions by 2050 while the global coal pipeline has decreased by 76 per cent since 2015. But the progress is “far from enough,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres one day before the conference is to adopt a final document before closing.

More than 100 countries have committed to halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation by 2030 and others have agreed to reducing methane emissions 30 per cent by 2030. The 197 countries attending the climate change conference have also formed a Net-Zero Asset Owners Alliance, which Guterres said is “the gold standard for credible commitments and transparent targets” and “is managing US $10 trillion in assets and catalyzing change across industries.”

“I encourage the much larger Glasgow Finance Alliance for Net Zero to follow the same path,” he said in an address to the high level of attendees to the conference. He also cited decisions by 28 new countries and members to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance, which raised the membership to 165 countries, cities, regions and businesses, and the 44 countries and 32 companies and regions that have committed to transition from coal to clean power.

“That’s why I have been calling for the formation of coalitions of countries, international financial institutions and private finance – as well as renewable energy companies – to support this momentous shift,” he said. “Some 30 member states and regional development banks have pledged immediate support for the clean energy transition in countries. I urge more financial institutions and investors to follow suit.”

“The announcements here in Glasgow are encouraging – but they are far from enough,” he said.

Guterres said he will establish a High-Level Expert Group to propose “clear standards to measure and analyze net zero commitments from non-state actors,” a decision he said is beyond the mechanisms already set out in the Paris Agreement. “This High-Level Expert group will build on existing work and submit a series of recommendations to me during the course of next year. They will work in a transparent and inclusive manner, and I invite you all to cooperate fully with them.”

US and China to cooperate on cutting emissions

The United States and China, the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters, said in a surprise announcement at Glasgow on November 10 that they will take joint actions to fight climate change in the coming decade. The announcement stirred hope of climate action, but it failed to support a proposal by the United Kingdom to all countries to update their emissions-cutting plans by the end of 2021. Climate organizations said the UK proposal could help close the differences between how countries plan to cut emissions and what scientists believe what are needed to prevent climate disasters.

See joint statement at:

https://www.state.gov/u-s-china-joint-glasgow-declaration-on-enhancing-climate-action-in-the-2020s/

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Glasgow/New York, November 9 – A group of 47 countries, a majority of them developing and climate-vulnerable countries, have committed to develop climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems as increasing evidence shows that climate change has impacted people’s health worldwide. The decision by these countries was announced by the World Health Organization at the 26th UN climate summit at the Scottish city attended by 197 member countries of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

WHO said most countries in the group have also committed to transform their health systems to be more sustainable and low-carbon while 12 countries have set a target date to reach net zero carbon emissions on or before 2050. The commitments were made as part of the COP26 Health Programme, which is a partnership between the UK government, WHO, the UNFCCC and health groups such as Health Care Without Harm.

“Commitments are anticipated to be implemented in the coming years and will allow countries to develop a roadmap for future investments in climate resilient and low carbon sustainable health systems and facilities,” the programme said.

WHO said countries that have committed to achieving low-carbon, sustainable health systems include Argentina, Fiji, Malawi, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and 36 others. Countries that have committed to enhance the climate resilience of their health systems include Bangladesh, Ethiopia, the Maldives, the Netherlands, and 42 others.

“The future of health must be built on health systems that are resilient to the impacts of epidemics, pandemics and other emergencies, but also to the impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events and the increasing burden of various diseases related to air pollution and our warming planet,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization.

“Health systems must also be part of the solution, by reducing carbon emissions. We applaud those countries that have committed to building climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems, and we hope to see many others following their lead in the near future.”

Countries that have joined the COP26 Health Programme are: Argentina, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Bhutan, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Lao PDR, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone ,Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America and Yemen.

Island states are some of countries most vulnerable to climate change from the Caribbean to the South Pacific Ocean.  WHO pointed out Fiji where the government has built more climate-resilient health infrastructure, strengthened the health workforce and provided health care facilities with sustainable energy services to cope with cyclones, flash floods and rising sea levels.

Minister for Health and Medical Services Ifereimi Waqainabete of Fiji said, “In the midst of the pandemic, we had to recover from extreme weather events and manage the resulting health impacts. [It] has shown us that health systems and facilities are the main line of defense in protecting populations from emerging threats … and that now is the time to increase our commitment to a safer, and more sustainable and inclusive future for all.”

“The message from WHO and health professionals around the globe is clear: climate change is a huge health challenge and we need to act now. I’m really pleased to see so many countries prioritising this issue through the COP26 Health Programme and their level of ambition. Strong leadership from the health sector is vital to make sure we protect our populations from the impacts of climate change by enhancing the climate resilience of health systems, and by reducing emissions from the health sector,” said Wendy Morton, Minister for Europe and Americas, in the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The COP26 Health Programme include:  Building climate resilient health systems; Developing low carbon sustainable health systems; Adaptation Research for Health; The inclusion of health priorities in Nationally Determined Contributions and Raising the voice of health professionals as advocates for stronger ambition on climate change.

Countries participating in the programme are committed to, first, conducting climate change and health vulnerability assessments, and to develop national adaptation plans for health, and second, high ambition-high emitter countries commit to setting a target date by which to achieve net zero emissions health systems and develop an action plan or roadmap to achieve sustainable, low carbon health systems.

The second commitment is significant to global mitigation efforts: the health sector accounts for 10 per cent of global GDP and is a substantial contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for around 4.6 per cent.

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Glasgow/New York, November 5 – Thousands of young climate activists, so far the largest crowd of protesters in the Scottish city of Glasgow, took to the streets to demand actions against climate change. Headed by Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg, the young activists called the UN global climate summit “a failure” and brandished signs calling for an end of deforestation and for saving the planet from climate dangers.

But Glasgow is expecting a much larger protest Saturday November 6 as tens of thousands of climate activists are prepared to demonstrate as part of the “Global Day for Climate Justice” organized by Cop26 Coalition. The demonstrations demand that the 197 governments that are holding the 26^th UN global climate summit work out effective and just measures against climate change.

More than 25,000 people have registered to attend the climate summit, which the UN considered its most important one as global warming is threatening the earth with more climate disasters such as flooding, severe draught and wildfires. The organizers said over 200 simultaneous events are set to take place around the world, with over 100 in the United Kingdom alone.

With such large crowds in Glasgow, COP26 Coalition has provided guidelines to all participants to take measures against Covid-19 including testing, wearing facial masks and social distancing.
“Public health and safety during the ongoing pandemic is our primary concern,” the guidelines said. “We have planned all activities over COP26 to minimise the risk of spreading Covid-19. We are fighting for climate justice at COP against the backdrop of global vaccine inequality and a need to keep everyone in our communities – both in Glasgow and abroad – safe.”

The Global Day for Climate Justice organization said in its website, which provided also details for the demonstrations, said:

“The Era of Injustice is Over: Our Time is Now”

“Justice won’t be handed to us by world leaders or delivered by corporations. So far, governments have done too little too late: colluding with corporations and hiding behind green washed ‘solutions’ that actually don’t exist yet, that don’t address the scale of the problem, and in many cases rely on more exploitation of people and the planet.

“The transformative solutions that we need to survive and build a more just and fair world can only be brought about through collective action, solidarity and coordination, from our local communities and international levels. We are bringing together movements from across the world to build power for system change – indigenous movements, frontline communities, trade unions, racial justice groups, youth strikers, land workers, peasants, NGOs, grassroots community campaigns, feminist movements, faith groups.”

“Wherever you are in the world, now is the time to join the fight for climate justice. We need all hands on deck: in workplaces, communities, schools, hospitals and across national borders.”

Asad Rehman, a spokesperson for the COP Coalition, told the 350.org, a climate organization present in Glasgow that civil society groups had little access to the climate summit.

“We are taking to the streets across the world this weekend to push governments from climate inaction to climate justice,” Rehman said.  “This has been the least accessible climate summit ever – with so many people sidelined at the talks or not able to make it in the first place. Today those people are having their voices heard.”

“The climate crisis has resulted from our broken, unequal societies and economies. We must transform our global economies into ones that protect both people and our planet instead of profit for a few.”

Brianna Fruean, a Samoan member of the Pacific Climate Warriors delegation and a speaker at the rally on Saturday, said:

“As someone from one of the regions most threatened by climate breakdown I know just how important this climate summit is, and how crucial it is that voices are heard on the streets as well as the corridors of power. For a decade now, the storms in the Pacific have been getting more violent, the droughts have been longer and the floods deeper. Fishers cannot feed their families. Family-owned shops that are flattened in a cyclone are rebuilt, only to be destroyed by rising water.”

“That’s why I’m marching today – with people right across the world – because it can’t go on like this. We refuse to be just victims to this crisis. We are not drowning, we are fighting and on Saturday the world will hear us.”

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