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Oceans & Blue Carbon at COP27

By Blue Forests Project

November 3^rd, 2022

This "live blog" features oceans, blue forests, and coastal and oceanic blue carbon related side events and discussions at UNFCCC COP27 (6 - 18 Nov). This post will be updated throughout the COP.

For any suggested updates or edits please email: steven.lutz (@) grida.no

(Last update 9 Nov, Version 5)

Useful links

COP 27 side events schedule

Link: https://seors.unfccc.int/applications/seors/reports/events_list.html

IISD's Earth Negotiations Bulletin coverage of the Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Change Conference COP 27

Link: https://enb.iisd.org/sharm-el-sheikh-climate-change-conference-cop27

COP27 Virtual Ocean Pavilion

Link: https://cop27oceanpavilion.vfairs.com/ (registration needed)

UNESCO's IOC at the Climate COP27

Link: https://ioc.unesco.org/news/join-unescos-ioc-climate-cop27-sharm-el-sheikh

International Partnership for Blue Carbon calendar of blue carbon events

Link: https://bluecarbonpartnership.org/events/

Sunday, 6 Novenber

IMF & Bahamas meeting on the sidelines of COP27

Nassau Guardian article: PM ‘very encouraged’ by IMF director’s support of Bahamas

Monday, 7 November

Global Mangroves into 2030/2050 – Ramsar COP14

2:15 - 13:15 EET, Plenary C

Website link Global Mangroves into 2030/2050 – Ramsar COP14

Lead organization: Mangrove Foundation (MCF), China (lead), National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA), P.R.C., United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Wetlands International (WI), SEE Conservation, Vanke Foundation

This side event will review the progress and challenges on global mangrove conservation, promote consensus among stakeholders in protecting mangrove and blue carbon, and mobilize science-based innovation and synchronized actions in the next decade, under the vision 2050 on biodiversity. It also calls for all parties to support development of international mangrove protection and collaboration mechanism, as well as facilitate the establishment of International Mangrove Center.

Tuesday, 8 November

Ocean Future Lab

8:30 am - 10:00 am EET, Nature Pavillion, Blue Zone

Organisers: High-Level Champions, GCA Ocean & Coastal Zones & partners of Ocean Action Events, Ocean & Climate Platform, Bloomberg Philanthropies

Ocean-based mitigation and adaptation

9:00 am - 10:00 am EET, Ocean Pavilion, Blue Zone

Organisers: The Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation

Blue Carbon in Blue Economy Development and Achievement of Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets

10:00 - 11:20 am, Indonesia Pavilion, D2

Organisers: Indonesia

Streamed here: https://youtu.be/bdZYbQnOOOE?t=4197 (timestamped to event)

Carbon Removal using Coastal Blue Carbon Ecosystems

10:30 - 11:30 am EET, Atoms4 Climate Pavilion

Organisers: IAEA

IAEA is investigating the potential of vegetated coastal ecosystems as a natural climate solution to increase carbon dioxide draw-down from atmosphere and long-term storage in sediments.

This roundtable shall discuss the effectiveness of this nature-based solution for carbon sequestration and the potential of these ecosystems to preserve biodiversity.

Streamed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvCTUMvc8LA

IAEA News article: IAEA COP27 Event Focuses on Blue Carbon as a Nature-Based Climate Solution

Global Leadership on Blue Carbon: Keys to Success

11:00 am - 12:00 pm EET, Nature Pavillion, Blue Zone

Organisers: Conservation International, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Building resilience in blue carbon ecosystems for coastal communities

1:00 pm - 1:55 pm AEDT, Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion, Blue Zone

Organisers: The Commonwealth Blue Charter

Flyer Building resilience in blue carbon ecosystems for coastal communities

Innovative, Sustainable Finance

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EET, Nature Pavillion, Blue Zone

Organisers: The Nature Conservancy

Bahamas national statement to COP27

13:00 EET, High-Level Segment

Philip Davis, Prime Minister of Bahamas delivers his national statement during the High-Level Segment for Heads of State and Government summit on the third day of the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference.

Transcript of Bahamian statement to COP27

Bloomberg transcript and audio recording of interview with PM Davis' COP27 on his statement

Ocean Knowledge for Climate Resilience

14:30 - 15:30 EET, Bellona Pavilion

Flyer Ocean Knowledge for Climate Resilience

Connectivity and collaboration as tools for ocean-climate action in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm EET, Nature Pavillion, Blue Zone

Organisers: The Pew Charitable Trusts

Wednesday, 9 November

Whose Ocean Is It Anyway? Why Ocean Heritage Matters for Climate Change Mitigation

09:00 - 10:30 am EET, Virtual Ocean Pavilion

Organizers: Ocean Decade Heritage Network, Cultural Heritage Framework Programme (CHFP), and Edinburgh Marine Archaeology (University of Edinburgh)

Streaming at the Virtual Ocean Pavilion (registration needed)

Clearing the Blue Carbon Highway: Governance, Benefit Sharing and Rights

1:30 pm - 3:00 pm EET, Ocean Pavilion, Blue Zone

Organisers: Blue Marine Foundation

Seagrass - the new frontier in blue carbon credits?

11:00 - 12:30 EET, Virtual Ocean Pavilion

Organizers: Fauna & Flora International in collaboration with Akdeniz Koruma Dernegi, Blue Ventures, Project Seagrass

Streaming at the Virtual Ocean Pavilion (registration needed)

Communicating Ocean Science for Climate Action

15:45 - 16:45 EET, UNESCO Pavilion

Organisers: IOC-UNESCO

Flyer Communicating Ocean Science for Climate Action (register to watch the livestream)

International finance opportunities: Gaps and needs for ocean-based climate action towards implementing SDG14.3

16:00 - 17:00 EET, Pacific Pavilion

Organisers: IOC-UNESCO

Flyer International finance opportunities: Gaps and needs for ocean-based climate action towards implementing SDG14.3

Harnessing Finance for Addressing Climate-Ocean Change

14:00 - 15:00 EET, Virtual Ocean Pavilion

Organizers: International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification, the Global Fund for Coral Reefs

Streaming at the Virtual Ocean Pavilion (registration needed)

Thursday, 10 November

Fishing for climate resilience: Unlocking the collective potential of vulnerable, coastal communities for climate action

9:00 am EET

Organisers: Rare, GLISPA

Coastal Wetlands in National and Sub-national Climate Strategies: Nature-Based Solutions in Practice

9:00 am - 10:00 am AEDT, Nature Pavillion, Blue Zone

Organisers/Moderators – Pew Charitable Trusts

Theme: Moderated panel sharing key learnings from countries and US states at various stages of implementing current, and developing future, targets for their coastal “blue carbon” habitats – mangrove, seagrass and saltmarsh – as nature-based solutions within national and subnational climate strategies.

Towards an innovative integrated transformative action to tackle climate change

11:00 - 12:00 am EET, Mediterranean Pavilion

Oganisers: EMEA

Event link Towards an innovative integrated transformative action to tackle climate change

The event presents the latest science- based innovative initiatives that are exploring how to align most recent pioneering scientific knowledge, research with sustainability to tackle decisively climate change challenges. The event is organised by EMEA and gathers founders from Minderoo Foundation , Rebalance Earth, IMF research on Nature Based Solutions, Brain Capital Alliance, the Blue Green World, and Switchmed to accelerate sustainability, that tackles climate change challenges from a trans-disciplinary perspective, linking economy, biodiversity, neuroscience, urban planning and finance.

Topic 1: Towards a new paradigm of “Nature Capital” – Nature based solutions embedded in the capacity of wild species to sequester carbon dioxide and new pricing models. Panelist: Ralph Chami (IMF)

The Mangrove Breakthrough Launch

10:30 am - 11:00 am EET

Organisers: Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA) and the High-Level Champions

Blue carbon: establishing policy and enhancing implementation based on science

4:30 pm - 6:30 pm EET, Korea Pavilion, Blue Zone

Organisers: Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea, KOEM, Kunsan National University

Friday, 11 November

Fish are Carbon Engineers

8 - 9 am EET, Ocean Pavilion

Organisers: Our Fish

Fish, like whales and plankton, are keystones of the ocean’s biological pump, the system constantly at work capturing and storing excess carbon from the atmosphere. Fisheries Management can help to conserve that system and in turn combat climate change. The Ocean & Climate Change Dialogue 2022 made clear that we must protect our ocean AND value its potential as a place for sustainable climate solutions and action. The UNFCCC must now acknowledge and mainstream good fisheries management as good carbon management.

Representatives from civil society, government and the scientific community will discuss the evidence in support of fisheries management as carbon management and what opportunities exist for maximising this to deliver on climate action commitments.

Event link (video will be avaliable here)

Ocean acidification, climate and society - mitigation and adaptation opportunities and challenges towards addressing SDG14.3

09:00-10:00 am EET, IAEA Pavilion

Organisers: IOC-UNESCO

Ocean x Climate Summit

10:00 am - 5:00 pm (all day summit) Park Regency in Sharm El-Sheikh (10 minutes from the Blue Zone)

Website Ocean x Climate Summit (registration required)

Agenda includes:

10:30 AM - Blue Horizons: Promise & Potential for the Future of Our Ocean - Scientific discovery, ocean exploration, and technological innovation all demonstrate how the ocean is our greatest ally in addressing climate change.

4:10 PM - The value of a living ocean to our health and economic well being - Keynote: Ralph Chami Assistant Director, The International Monetary Fund; Co-Founder, Rebalance Earth

4:30 PM - The Future of Blue Carbon - Blue Carbon is a key topic at this COP. This discussion will pull together the main issues and provide clarity on what needs to be done to unlock the potential of Blue Carbon.

Blue carbon: the ocean's role in fighting climate change

15:00 - 16:00 pm EET, Ocean Pavillion

Organized by: National Oceanography Centre

There is no climate solution without the ocean, and research will help us to continue to understand and harness the ocean’s unique contribution. The term “blue carbon” may be used holistically to refer to the uptake and storage of carbon dioxide in marine systems by physical, chemical and biological ocean processes - from the coast to the deep ocean. Blue carbon approaches to climate change mitigation and adaptation are being discussed more and more by policy-makers and this event aims to ensure that policy is driven by science, delivering the climate change impacts we all need.

GOOS Panelists: Anya Waite (CEO at OFI, GOOS Co-Chair)

Saturday, 12 November

Mangrove Blue Carbon Market Opportunities

9:00 am - 10:00 am EET, Savoy Sharm El Sheikh

Organisers: Global Landscape Forum

Ocean change: Adaptation and mitigation opportunities and challenges

10:30 am EET, Ocean Pavilion, Blue Zone

Organisers: IOC-UNESCO

This side event will provide a platform to explore the opportunities & challenges for nations and stakeholders related to observing and understanding ocean change; local & regional adaptation mechanisms to a rapidly changing ocean; including the conservation and restoration of carbon rich ecosystems, the safe implementation of ocean carbon dioxide removal technologies; and climate smart ocean management for supporting sustainable development and protecting ocean life and those that depend on it.

Monday, 14 November

Setting global nature-based solutions standards

9:00 am - 10:00 am EET, Nature Pavillion, Blue Zone

Organisers: Australia, The Pew Charitable Trusts

World Mangrove Center: Integrated and Sustainable Mangrove Management Towards Indonesia's FOLU Net Sink 2030

11:30 - 12:50, Indonesia Pavillion, A8

Organisers: Indonesia

Streamed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEI1hTX_ve4

International Blue Carbon Institute Launch

4:00 pm - 7:00 pm EET, Singapore Pavilion

The International Blue Carbon Institute will accelerate and scale blue carbon implementation in Asia and beyond though science, training, and development of essential technical capacity, methodologies, and tools.

Invitation International Blue Carbon Institute Launch

Tuesday, 15 November

Ocean-Based Climate Solutions: Enabling Frameworks for Action

12:30 - 1:30 PM EET, Climate Education Hub, Blue Zone

Organisers: Ocean Visions

Website Ocean Visions at COP27

Watch live here: earthday.org/climateeducationhub

Partnerships to accelerate action to protect blue carbon ecosystems for mitigation and adaptation

1:15 pm - 2:45 pm EET, Thutmose Room, Blue Zone

Organisers: Australia and IOC-UNESCO on behalf of the International Partnership for Blue Carbon (IPBC), The Pew Charitable Trusts

Jointly combating the Climate and Biodiversity crises: the critical role of Nature-based Solutions

1:45 pm - 2:45 pm EET, Thebes Room, Blue Zone

Organisers: IUCN, World Resources Institute

Ocean-Climate-Society: challenges & opportunities for ocean mitigation, adaptation, finance & UNFCCC

4:45 pm - 6:15 pm EET, Memphis Room, Blue Zone

Organisers: Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Blue Marine Foundation, European Bureau for Conservation and Development (EBCD), Rare, University of Strathclyde

Wednesday, 16 November

Blue Climate Solutions: Considering the Ocean’s Role in Our Path to Net Negative Emissions

9:30 - 11:00 AM, Ocean Pavilion

Organisers: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

Every path to a sustainable climate future must pass through the ocean. We will discuss the scientific basis for ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches to complement deep emissions reductions, as well as the research agenda, governance structure, investment needs, and ethical framework necessary to ensure a sustainable climate future for all.