Sharm el-Sheikh, Nov 17: Highlighting the growing consensus on oceans being critical to climate negotiations, a new policy brief from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) was launched at an UN Framework for Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) official side event at COP27 here, put forth the need for definite goals and indicators, along with institutional and enforcement mechanisms to steer ocean-climate action.
The knowledge document was produced as part of the COP27 Compass component of the Act4Earth initiative launched at the World Sustainable Development Summit in 2022. During the launch at Sharm el-Sheikh, Shailly Kedia, Senior Fellow, TERI, gave a presentation on the Act4Earth policy briefs on COP27 negotiations, internationalizing lifestyles for environment, inclusive energy transitions and ocean-climate interface.
Oceans, which are the largest known carbon sink in the world, were largely omitted from the climate change negotiations until COP21 held in 2015.
The policy brief focuses on the global commons of marine areas beyond national jurisdiction and climate action, and examines the interface between climate and ocean governance.
“The oceans have long been neglected in the climate change negotiations, even though the UNFCCC clearly identified its role as the globe’s most important carbon sink. The existing patchwork of agreements on the High Seas, including the UN Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), scarcely touch upon the role of the High Seas in relation to climate change,” said Prodipto Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow, TERI.
The policy brief highlights the gaps in the climate-ocean interface and examines it through the lens of the global commons. Global commons are resource domains that do not fall under the jurisdiction of any single country, and their governance remains contentious since there is no single state or region having complete responsibility over it.
Pointing to the gaps in the present climate regime, Kedia said, “Since climate negotiations are party-driven, climate actions in national jurisdictions have received larger attention and global commons including oceans have not been a focus area in terms of climate ambition and action.”
She underscored the need for greater interactions between the climate regime and ocean regime involving UNFCCC and UNCLOS.
The knowledge document observes that problems of ocean equity are often not explicitly stated. “It is a hard fact that till date the distribution of benefits of oceans has been iniquitous and the ocean economy has primarily benefited wealthy nations and firms,” it notes.
While oceans have helped in slowing the rate of climate change by acting as a carbon sink, climate change impacts such as acidification, warming, changing circulation patterns and rising sea levels have deeply affected it as well.