The ocean and climate change policy

Abstract

The ocean plays a major role in regulating Earth's climate system, and is highly vulnerable to climate change, but continues to receive little attention in the ongoing policymaking designed to mitigate and adapt to global climate change. There are numerous ways to consider the ocean more significantly when developing these policies, several of which offer the co-benefits of biodiversity protection and support of marine-dependent human communities. When developing forward-thinking climate change policy, it is important to understand the ways that the ocean contributes to global climate and to fully inventory the services that the ocean provides to humans. Without more inclusive consideration of the ocean in climate policy, at all levels of governance, policy makers risk weaker than necessary mitigation and adaptation strategies.L'océan joue un rôle majeur dans la régulation du système climatique de la planète, tout en étant aussi très vulnérable au changement climatique, mais cependant continue de ne recevoir que peu d'attention au sein de l'élaboration actuelle des politiques visant à atténuer et à s'adapter au changement climatique. Nombreuses sont les manières de bien prendre en compte les océans dans l'élaboration de ces politiques, certaines d'entre elles offrant des co-bénéfices en matière de protection de la diversité et soutien aux communautés humaines dépendantes des zones marines. Il est important de comprendre, dans l'élaboration de politiques climatiques prévisionnelles, les façons dont les océans contribuent au climat planétaire et de pleinement inventorier les services que l'océan fournit à l'homme. En l'absence d'une prise en compte inclusive des océans dans les politiques climatiques, à tous les niveaux de gouvernance, les décideurs risquent une mise en oeuvre de stratégies de mitigation et d'adaptation plus faibles qu'il ne le faut.

Canadians’ perspectives on how much space nature needs

“…However, when asked about their preferred percentage of protected land versus sea, preferences for amount of sea to be protected were higher, both in Canada and globally. Numerous studies (Tibbetts 2005;Mora and Sale 2011;Galland et al 2012) reported the undervaluing to society of the oceans and, thus, we found the results of our study surprising. This suggests a strong appetite for marine conservation in Canada that may be, in part, be the result of recent media coverage of marine issues like marine mammal declines and the discovery of unique marine features such as glass sponge reefs.…”

Climate Change

“…Of even greaterc oncern is the fact that, even if solar-radiation management does limit temperaturerise, carbon dioxide will continue to acidifythe oceans -the home of muchofthe lifeon the planet-with direconsequences with regard to both the short-term availability of fish-basedprotein forhumans and the long-termd estructiono fm anyo ft he mostimportantformsofplanetary life. 45 Strategies forr educing thea mountso f carboni nt he atmosphere, beginning with mitigation to cut emissions in the first place,are hencethe first priority.…”

Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin Volume 24 Number 3 May 2015 65–100

“…The ocean is intimately linked to climate, and, thus, both require "global, credible, measurable, actionable plans" to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference (Figueres and Figueres 2015). There are many ways to take the ocean into consideration in climate policy (Galland et al 2012), and an active conversation on the ocean's role in the upcoming climate negotiations is currently unfolding. COP21 in Paris, France later this year is the ideal time and venue to elevate this conversation to the UNFCCC level, and ocean scientists have a central role to play in informing this conversation.…”