Dubai, United Arab Emirates (November 29, 2023): From December 2 – 11, 2023, Ocean Conservancy will attend COP28 to push for the ocean’s incorporation into the Global Stocktake and to build on past successes with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Parties on advancing ocean-based climate solutions. Ocean Conservancy experts will host and participate in events throughout the duration of COP28 and will be available for interview upon request.

The upcoming Global Stocktake is expected to reveal existing climate commitments are not on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. The ocean, despite covering 70 percent of the globe, is a largely untapped source of climate solutions that could support significant emissions reductions to help address the emissions gap. Offshore wind alone has the potential to provide 18 times the globe’s electricity demand from a renewable source. Yet according to Ocean Conservancy’s Ocean-Based Climate Solutions in Nationally Determined Contributions, June 2023 Update, only 14 percent of coastal countries mention ocean renewable energy, such as offshore wind, in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

As a leader in promoting and driving forward ocean-based climate solutions, Ocean Conservancy will collaborate with the UNFCCC Parties, as well as through the Friends of the Ocean and Climate network as acting secretariat, to increase ocean-climate action and achieve better integration of ocean-based climate solutions into UNFCCC processes. Specifically, Ocean Conservancy will be working to advance the following outcomes at COP28:  

• Include the Ocean in the Global Stocktake Decision: The ocean is largely absent from the Global Stocktake (GST), since none of the key messages emerging from the technical dialogues explicitly mentioned the ocean and coastal zones. Ocean Conservancy will work with Parties and non-Party Stakeholders towards a political outcome of the GST, with the newly released Integrating the Ocean: Options for CMA 5 Decision paper – that provides Parties with guidance to increase their ambition and strengthen their ocean and climate actions, especially in the context of their national strategies, including their NDCs and National Adaptation Plans.
• Champion Responsible Clean Ocean Energy: The deployment of offshore renewable energy, specifically, offshore wind, is the greatest ocean-based climate mitigation solution and has the potential to reduce biodiversity loss and climate change. Ocean Conservancy, in its role as the Offshore Renewable Energy Sector Co-Lead for the UNFCCC’s Marrakesh Partnership for Global Climate Action, Ocean and Coastal Zones, will champion the installation of at least 380 GW of offshore capacity while establishing targets and enabling measures for net-positive biodiversity outcomes, as well as advocate for mobilizing $10 billion in concessional finance for developing economies to reach that goal. 
• Reduce Climate-causing Plastic: Plastics are made from oil and on a rapid growth trajectory, driving major greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel lock-in. This growth in production is also a major environmental justice problem for communities where plastic is made, and where it ends up, with growing evidence of significant and long term health consequences. Yet, plastic reduction is rarely identified as a strategy for emissions reduction in NDCs, and a significant number of NDCs include support for increased use of incineration or waste-to-energy technologies, which would significantly increase emissions. Ocean Conservancy will advocate for countries to include plastic reduction in their climate commitments to support the goals of the Paris Agreement. 
• Strengthen Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue:  The Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue provides a space for Parties and non-Party stakeholders to improve understanding of ocean-climate solutions and challenges, share knowledge and experience, and identify synergies for these issues across international fora, with the aim of strengthening ocean-climate mitigation and adaptation actions globally. Ocean Conservancy will support efforts to disseminate the Dialogue’s findings and to present the summary report from the Dialogue at COP28 with the goal of strengthening the role of the Dialogue in driving the implementation of concrete ocean-based climate actions.
• Include Green Shipping: The amount of greenhouse gasses the shipping industry emits is on par with a G7 country. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) revised its greenhouse gas strategy in the summer of 2023, however it lacked the necessary ambition to put the shipping industry on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. The IMO operates outside of the UNFCCC, however, so Ocean Conservancy will work with countries to include shipping decarbonization in their NDCs as one avenue to make up the gap between the new revised greenhouse gas strategy and a 1.5C future.