Restoring Ocean Health for People and Planet

Every year, June 8 marks UN World Ocean Day. Proposed in 1992 at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, World Ocean Day is part of a broader environmental agenda recognizing that social, economic, and environmental factors are interdependent and evolve together. This historic Earth Summit resulted in Agenda 21 calling for investments to achieve sustainable development in the 21st century and the creation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These outcomes are the reason that today we have the mechanisms and goals outlined in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Paris Agreement guiding multilateral cooperation and policy.

In 2026, combating climate change is central to restoring ocean health and achieving the outcomes captured in these international agreements. “You see leaders in the corridors of UNFCCC climate meetings calling for an integration of ocean across all the decisions in the negotiating rooms because we all recognize that to have strong ocean outcomes, we need to address the issue at hand,” said Dr. Sivendra Michael, Fiji’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.

With ocean acidification, rising temperatures, extreme weather patterns, and other worsening impacts of climate change, action is needed now more than ever to make the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) stronger and more resilient.

OUR OCEAN AND DEVELOPMENT AT RISK

For many years, the ocean has protected our planet by absorbing excess heat and one-third of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by humans. The acceleration of carbon pollution over the past century has caused a 40% increase in the ocean’s acidity through a process called ocean acidification. For decades, this change took place out of sight, but its consequences are now surfacing with urgency. In 2020, average ocean conditions worldwide had already pushed beyond the danger zone for ocean acidification, also known as a planetary boundary.

This increase in ocean acidification has major implications for the survival of many sea creatures, especially those that build shells or skeletons from calcium carbonate. The damage to their ecosystems is already happening: Tropical and subtropical coral reefs have lost 43% of their suitable habitats, some plankton critical for the entire food web have lost up to 61% of their habitat in polar regions, and coastal shellfish species have lost 13% of their global coastline habitats.

Changes caused by increased greenhouse gases and carbon emissions do not just stay in the ocean. They also have ripple effects across global communities and they impact our collective 17 Global Goals. For example:

• Ocean acidification undermines livelihoods and natural heritage affecting aquaculture, coastal communities, fisheries, and tourism (SDG 1: No Poverty; SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth; SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities).
• Ocean acidification threatens food security as marine resources decline (SDG 2: Zero Hunger).
• Climate change and ocean acidification disrupts ecosystems and ocean resilience, increasing the risk of resource competition and conflict (SDG 14: Life Below Water and SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

Ocean acidification is not just an environmental issue. It’s also a sustainable development challenge sitting at the nexus of climate change, food security, and human rights.

MULTILATERALISM AT OUR OCEAN CONFERENCE

Presided over by the Government of Kenya in Mombasa, the 11th annual Our Ocean Conference, or OOC11, is the first time the conference will take place in Africa, providing an important opportunity to advance ocean acidification policy and financing on the continent.

Marine ecosystems and resources are vulnerable to the cumulative impacts of climate change and ocean acidification which affects the region’s development goals, sustainable blue economy, and food security. Of Africa’s 54 states, the continent has more than 30,000 km of coastline spread among 38 coastal and island states. Ocean economies generate more than $300 billion in economic activities and support 50 million jobs. Seafood is also a cornerstone of healthy diets, with nearly 20 kilograms of fish consumed per person each year.

Since the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance) launched in 2016, our network of government and affiliate members has worked tirelessly to advance the science, policy, and investments needed at local and global scales to find solutions to ocean acidification. We do this, in part, by sharing the lived experiences of members around the world, revealing that ocean acidification is not a distant threat but an unfolding reality. Frontline leaders are building networks of science by weaving traditional knowledge with bold policy approaches and by taking valiant action to protect what has long protected them.

That’s why, during OOC11, our focus will be on the leadership shown by the Western Indian Ocean region, discussing implementation needs and sharing best practices from the Ocean Acidification in the Western Indian Ocean Action Plan that will guide the science and investments in ocean acidification policy and response in the Western Indian Ocean for the next 10 years.

MARKING WORLD OCEAN DAY

This World Ocean Day, we are encouraged by the governments, financing bodies, and everyday people stepping up to learn more about ocean acidification. Cooperation brings together impacted parties from fishermen to government officials to work together to transform conversations into action-oriented policy responses. These issues are compounding and interchanging, requiring everyone to play a part to ensure that combatting ocean acidification is a crucial aspect of their climate, ocean, and sustainable development goals.