Ocean Signals – short announcements
 

Waves on the Horizon – what's coming up?

• First draft of mega climate report on the "Ocean and Cyrosphere" due out end of April
• How can insurance help manage and reduce Ocean risk?

Ocean Reflection – a look back at what's been happening

• Latin America – an emerging word champion for the Ocean
• Large-scale Ocean protection – all sizes matter!!
• Deep-sea mining code discussions among mounting environmental concerns
• Celebrating the power of Women for the Ocean

Other Key News
Recent Reports
Latest Virgin Unite blogs

 

Ocean Unite has revamped its website and we are proud to announce that it’s now online in all its sparkly glory. It’s definitely worth a visit – you can find all sorts of useful resources on there, including talking points on key Ocean issues, our latest blogs, and, if you are struggling to fill your time, you can read back issues of The Navigator.
 
Meanwhile, keep on reading this issue to find out what's been going on in the Ocean world over the past month.

Climate deal of the year: shipping emissions and heavy fuel oil
Last month we flagged-up that the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN body that regulates global shipping, will discuss and hopefully agree in April (9–13th) a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the sector. The shipping sector has dodged its responsibility on climate health for too long – without action, shipping emissions are expected to grow 50–250% by 2050. It’s now time for a strong agreement to be made that sees a 70–100% reduction on 2008 emission levels by 2050, or else international shipping risks seriously undermining the Paris Agreement. Countries, such as Brazil, need to ensure that corporate interests don’t block climate leadership and a strong deal at the IMO. Check out www.mepc72.com for more information on the forthcoming negotiations. ​

At the same time, the campaign to ban the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in the Arctic is in full swing. Momentum is building with more and more countries supporting this ban. A paper submitted to the IMO MEPC (Marine Environment Protection Committee) meeting by Finland and co-sponsored by Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the US, and supported by France and the UK, calls for a ban by 2021. This proposal has not been received with open arms by some countries, such as Canada, which feels that the timeline may be too ambitious. The Clean Arctic Alliance argues that a ban will be the simplest and most effective way to mitigate its effects. 95 companies, organizations, politicians, NGOs and explorers, including the German ports Bremen and Bremerhaven, have already signed up to this Arctic Commitment to ban the use of HFO in the Arctic, and support for the campaign keeps on growing.
 
Get the word out on the need for an ambitious climate deal on shipping and getting dirty fuel out of the Arctic at the IMO MEPC in April @IMOclimate, #MEPC72, @HFOFreeArctic.


High seas UN treaty negotiation process about to kick off
A UN meeting, running from the 16th April, will finally see the start of the process to negotiate a new treaty to protect high seas biodiversity. At the end of last year, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution detailing how the negotiation process will be organised around 4 sessions of 10 working days – one in the second half of 2018, two in 2019 and one in the first half of 2020. The meeting in April won't go into the content of the agreement, but will discuss organizational issues, such as preparing a zero draft based on the draft elements that have been discussed during previous Preparatory Committee meetings, as a basis for beginning negotiations. The first round of negotiations will be held from 4–17th September 2018. ​

This treaty will finally fill in some key gaps in Ocean governance, namely how to establish marine reserves over large areas of the high seas, how to share the benefits arising from the use of marine genetic resources, and capacity building. There has already been a LOT of discussion during the PrepCom meetings, but issues such as decision-making, scientific authorities and building relationships with existing organizations all need to be fleshed out. Check out this blog for a 10-point guide to the negotiations.


25^th April is World Penguin Day!
The 25^th April is another excellent excuse to celebrate how much we love penguins and why it’s so important to protect their habitat. There are 17 different species of penguins in the world, with 6 species calling the Antarctic region home. Just a few weeks ago a whole new “mega colony” of 15 million Adélie penguins were discovered by scientists who spotted their poo from space! The animals are crammed into an area with the ominous name “Danger Islands” – a part of Antarctica that is very hard to reach. This is really encouraging news, especially as other colonies on the continent have experienced utterly drastic declines.

Antarctica is under threat from climate change and industrial fishing, and it’s the tiny yet mighty krill that are especially suffering, according to a new scientific report released last month. The Antarctic ecosystem is “krill-centric”, meaning it’s the main source of food for Antarctic marine life such as whales, seals, penguins, squid and fish. Click here for more brill krill facts. However, krill is now threatened by an even larger predator – humans. Krill populations have declined by 80% since the 1970s due to a combination of global warming, which has melted the ice that is home to the algae plankton that the krill feed on, and increased industrial fishing, which uses new fishing technologies that basically suck up vast quantities of krill. A new report by Greenpeace exposes how these fishing fleets are feeding a growing demand for Omega 3 health products to help things such as heart disease, blood pressure, strokes or depression. As a response to a recent Greenpeace campaign, health food giant Holland & Barrett has removed all krill products from its shelves in the UK. 
 
Significant reductions in krill will have disastrous impacts on wildlife – with warnings that the penguin population could drop by almost one-third by the end of the century due to changes in krill biomass. We need to take action to stop this ecological disaster unfolding before our eyes. Support the need for a sanctuary in Antarctic waters and give a shout out on #WorldPenguinDay to protect penguin homes #Antarctica2020 – give krill a break!

First draft of mega climate report on the “Ocean and Cryosphere” due out end of April
In 2016, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) agreed to prepare a special report on climate change, the Ocean and the cryosphere (frozen water). The IPCC is a leading international body set up in 1988 to provide the world with a clear scientific view on climate change and its impacts. Its reviews objectively assess the most recent scientific information and draw on the work of hundreds of scientists from all over the world to help policy-makers make sound, evidence-based decisions.

A first draft of the special report on the Ocean and the cyrosphere is due out in April and, following further rounds of discussions, will be finalized in September 2019. The report is structured around the following issues: high mountain areas; polar regions; coastal regions and rising sea levels; Ocean and marine ecosystems; and extreme weather events. It will also outline possible responses to these threats. This report is part of the 6th IPCC assessment cycle, which will result in the publication of a new assessment report in 2022.

How can insurance help manage and reduce Ocean risk?
Hurricanes, cyclones and flooding all spell economic and environmental disaster for communities. #OceanRisk is too great to be ignored. The insurance world has a major role to play in encouraging governments and the business sector to prepare to tackle the consequences, help build resilience and reduce this risk. The insurance sector can help develop new approaches, tools and technologies to find solutions to build resilience at the local, regional and global levels, such as this "Climate insurance" database that shares the best practices and innovative solutions for successful and sustainable climate risk insurance projects in climate-vulnerable countries. ​ Also, in Mexico, the world’s first coral reef insurance policy has been taken out to finance the repair and restoration of the Mesoamerican reef if it gets damaged by a heavy storm. This reef is hugely important as a defense to protect this stretch of coast and its US$ 9 billion tourist economy from hurricanes.
 
Between 8–10th May in Bermuda (re)insurer XL Catlin, with partners including Ocean Unite and the IUCN, is convening the Ocean Risk Summit, an important opportunity for leaders from across the political, economic, environmental and risk management sectors to develop a multi-sectoral approach to mitigate and build resilience to ocean-derived risks. If you hurry you can catch the early bird reduced registration fee until the 8^th April. To register for the summit or to learn more, visit the website here.


Click here for a forward looking calendar

Latin America – an emerging world champion for the Ocean
The Asamblea del Océano Pacífico, held on the 7^th March in Mexico in parallel with the World Ocean Summit, brought together Ministers and high-level officials from Latin America and Canada to discuss Ocean conservation priorities for the region and beyond. Ocean Unite co-founder and Network Member, José María Figueres was joined by fellow co-chairs, Rafael Pacchiano, Environment Minister of Mexico, and Marcelo Mena, former Environment Minister of Chile. The meeting was successful in identifying key areas of collaboration, such as food security, plastic pollution, the blue economy, and building Ocean resilience. Governments have agreed to carry forward the agenda of the Asamblea under the Alianza del Pacífico. An op-ed by the co-chairs was published in advance of the meeting and featured widely in Latin American outlets, highlighting Latin America’s commitment to work together closely for a healthy Ocean future.​​

Large-scale Ocean protection – all sizes matter!!
Recently there have been some large-scale marine protection announcements. Firstly, Belize announced it will expand its no-take zones from 3% to more than 10% by the end of 2018. The Government of Brazil announced a plan to create 2 marine protected areas (MPAs), which would increase the country’s percentage of MPAs from 1.5% to 26.3%. In February the Seychelles announced it will set up 2 MPAs, increasing its marine protection from 0.04% to 30%. And Samoa has just designated its waters a shark sanctuary. These designations, together with action by other marine protection champion countries, are really raising the bar on ocean conservation and paving the way to achieving 30% protection by 2030, which science tells us is the minimum level of protection needed for a healthy Ocean and planet. But there is still a long way to go, especially when you hear reports that Australia is staging the world’s largest conservation rollback.​ A first attempt by the Labor and Green parties to disallow these controversial new plans unfortunately failed in the Senate. Luckily, the fight is not over, and there is still time for the parties to redraft the disallowance and submit it again for consideration.  


It’s also worrying that some people working in the Ocean conservation world still question the value of large-scale Ocean protection in remote areas. A recent op-ed in The New York Times by a coral reef scientist entitled "Bigger Is Not Better for Ocean Conservation"’ argues there’s no point protecting remote Ocean areas, and efforts should instead focus on smaller near-shore areas that are under greater threat. There really is no argument here. As this excellent rebuttal by another marine scientist makes very clear, protecting small, highly-diverse, near-shore marine areas is absolutely vital, but it’s not enough if we are to restore and maintain Ocean health globally. We should be working together to ensure the protection of the Ocean and not undermining each other’s work. Check out the Ocean Elders' response here.
 

Deep-sea mining code discussions continue among mounting environmental concerns
The UN’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) met earlier this month to continue discussions on new draft regulations for the exploitation of deep seabed resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Although the ISA has been around for nearly 25 years, no commercial exploitation of minerals has taken place in the high seas as until now the high cost of building machines to operate commercially in these extreme conditions has been prohibitive. However, technology is advancing and exploitation is on the near-horizon. The ISA has agreed a target date of 2020 to finalize the development of this new mining code.


Tensions are showing between countries calling for environmental protection measures, such as the need for regional environmental management plans to be integrated into regulations before mining starts, and those who have exploration contracts and don’t want to burden companies with environmental concerns. There are still so many unknowns, including economic uncertainties about the costs and the benefits, and how these will be shared. For example, a presentation given at the meeting by an expert from MIT reported on their financial model under development, with US$ 3–4 billion capital expenditure, up to US$ 1 billion per year running costs, and revenue of around US$ 2 billion. However, the expert admitted that these figures don’t take into account environmental costs or loss of ecosystem services, or that these activities may even lower prices from land-based mining.
 
Many scientists say biodiversity loss from deep-sea mining will be unavoidable – and could be permanent given deep-sea life's typically very slow rates of recovery. Previous exploitation track-records have shown we need stringent precautionary environmental measures, even if they reduce commercial viability. Ignoring environmental costs is a key reason our planet is suffering so badly. Let’s not make the same mistakes again.
 
Informal recommendations from this meeting have been forwarded to the Legal and Technical Commission, which will provide the draft to the ISA Council in July. The ISA also released a draft Strategic Plan and consultations are open until the 13^th April. Follow the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition to keep up to date on the latest news.
 

Celebrating the power of Women for the Ocean
8^th March was International Women’s Day with the theme #PressforProgress – to motivate and unite around the need to think, act and be gender inclusive. Gender equality is no longer just women’s fight, it‘s a fight by society that will benefit us all. So, what does that mean for the Ocean? Well, firstly gender equality is vital for sustainable development. Women represent half the working population in the seafood industry and are largely concentrated in low-skilled, seasonal jobs without health, safety and labor rights protections, earning much less than men. Gender equality has many benefits, including a boost in production, family nutrition and food security, and it can help protect marine resources for future generations. ​


Under-representation of women in professions such as science, social science and politics means that they are also not part of the policy-making decisions, making it less likely that the key issues that affect women are being addressed and solved. There are so many women from all walks of life – policy-makers, businesswomen, community members, scientists, surfers, sailors and divers – who all care about our Ocean and are doing great work to save it, but their role is often overlooked. We need to #PressforProgress in Ocean conservation, which means including women in the conversation. Check out women4oceans.org to see how you can connect, support and amplify the actions of women around the world who are working for a healthy Ocean.