Oceans Day

     Friday the 4th was Oceans Day at the Rio Pavilion inside the Climate Generation zone. The forums focused on regional ocean challenges: Pathways to Climate Finance of Small Island Developing States. Because many islands and the artic are regions that put forth the least amount of emissions but take on the most weight of the effects of climate change, there is a need to give sustainable finance to these areas so they can receive debt relief. Many of the talks were through the Global Island Partnership and the Nature Conservancy.
      The vision of these set of conferences were a healthy ocean and a protected climate. They consisted of presidents and chancellors of various islands states who came to talk about the importance of the ocean and how island states are taking the blunt of climate change without reaping the benefits of causing it. Each speaker emphasized how 2015 is a critical year for the oceans and climate and how there is a need for strong implementation of review processes that push countries to update their climate mitigation techniques consistently.
     The President of Palau, a small island country, expressed the importance of the establishment and watch over marine sanctuaries/no take zones thorough the oceans, similar to the one that Palau recently established (the size of France). "Large marine protected areas are critical to allow for marine ecosystems to recover. Image if every country set aside ocean sanctuaries to protect what we have for the future." He ended his speech with saying "industrial fishing and smoke stacks have no place in a sustainable island future."
     The President from COP20 in Lima Peru, who is now also the Minister of the Environment of Peru, emphasized that "when we talk about resilience, we need to include a discussion about the ocean." He also stated, that "blue is the color of the ocean, blue is the color of the sky, it is the color of hope."
     The Commissioner of the European Fisheries from UNESCO stressed that there is currently "lots of pressure on many marine ecosystems." He also explained that to achieve a blue economy, the EU, along with other countries must
1. Achieve an agreement in Paris to keep warming below 2 degrees.
2. Cultivate healthy seas to limit the negative effects of climate change, proper use of maritime    space and reduce marine litter.
3. Remove the obstacles that prevent sustainable blue growth, pursue marine renewable energy by because by the year 2050 the ocean could provide 10% of all European Energy.
4. Improve existing ocean governments and create new ones in order to; protect biodiversity in ocean areas beyond national boarders, improve arctic policy concerning the use of resources and claim rights.
"The ocean is very much apart of our solution to the future."
     The Undersecretary for economic growth in the environment for the US was also present and gave a short speech as well. She stated that "40% of the US population lives in coastal areas" and that "the ocean is warming and becoming more acidic, there is also a rise in sea levels (8inches) more coastal storms, and many species are migrating to cooler waters which is causing ecological and economic disruptions." She also stated that "by 2100, the average global sea level is projected to rise by 1.4ft." Additionally, she also mentioned that NOAA has recently declared the third recorded global coral leeching event.
     Some of the major comments from the President of the Global Ocean Forum and th eorginizer of the event were;
"Since Copenhagen, we have seen new developments that act as irrefutable science of where our climate is headed and the impacts are happening now, and urgent action is needed now, not tomorrow."
"We need and ambitious legally binding agreement and we need urgent attention and target financing to island and coastal states."


There were also other side events that took place throughout the week that were related to this topic, below are my notes from a few of them.
Carrabin Challenge Initiative (Ambassador Spencer Thomas), many others like it, they all serve as a role model for further models of global island states. Cooperation and competition between these organizations/challenges. Many countries involved in these challenges to recognize the importance of tropical (land/sea) ecosystems. Private sector and business were also involved. 10 Countries and 15 companies. Protect 20% of all coastal and marine ecosystems by 2020 is just one of their many goals.

Minister of the Environment for the State of Australia (Hon. Greg Hunt) all about regional and cooperative initiatives. At 50b tons of net CO2 globally. Many ocean initiatives. Great Barrier Reef is under extreme stress. Many plans to preserve the Reef on a variety of time scales, also focus on the improvement of water quality. Ban forever the disposal of carbon dredge material around the Great Barrier Reef sea park. Coral Triangle initiative. Supporting nations provide education and marine conservations. Australia has given $13m so far.