ONU Climat Infos, le 14 avril 2022 - Dans un discours prononcé aujourd'hui à Palau lors de la « Conférence sur notre océan », Patricia Espinosa, secrétaire exécutive d'ONU Climat, a appelé les pays à renforcer leurs efforts pour protéger les océans et les côtes dans le cadre de leurs plans d'action nationaux pour le climat.

L'océan nous nourrit et nous fait vivre depuis des siècles, et nous ne pouvons pas continuer à le polluer et à le piller sans tenir compte des conséquences, a déclaré Mme Espinosa.

Pour beaucoup de gens, l'océan est hors de vue et hors de l'esprit, mais la protection de l'océan est pertinente et directement liée à tous les habitants de cette planète, a-t-elle déclaré. Il en va de même pour la lutte contre le changement climatique.

Par exemple, la protection et la restauration des habitats océaniques tels que les herbiers marins et les mangroves, ainsi que les réseaux alimentaires qui leur sont associés, peuvent piéger le dioxyde de carbone de l'atmosphère à des taux jusqu'à quatre fois supérieurs à ceux des forêts terrestres.

Lors de la COP 26, conférence des Nations unies sur les changements climatiques, qui s'est tenue à Glasgow en novembre dernier, il a été rappelé aux nations qu'elles devaient non seulement soumettre leurs plans d'action pour le climat (communément appelés NDC ou « contributions déterminées au niveau national » dans le cadre de l'Accord de Paris), mais aussi renforcer leurs plans actuels.

Des plans plus solides doivent être communiqués dès que possible à au secrétariat de la CCNUCC afin que, lors de la prochaine conférence de l'ONU sur les changements climatiques qui se tiendra en Égypte en novembre prochain, le monde puisse démontrer que des progrès sont réalisés et que l'objectif de 1,5°C est toujours à portée de main.

Lors de la COP 26, les gouvernements ont également ancré de manière permanente l'inclusion d'une action renforcée en faveur des océans dans le processus multilatéral de la CCNUCC et ont établi un dialogue annuel sur les océans et les changements climatiques.

La prochaine conférence des Nations unies sur les océans, qui se tiendra en juin, sera également l'occasion de briser le cloisonnement entre les décisions relatives aux océans et au climat et de promouvoir des solutions scientifiques indispensables à l'action mondiale en faveur des océans et du climat.

Nous avons besoin de vos plans, nous avons besoin de vos actions, et nous en avons besoin maintenant, a insisté Mme Espinosa.

Ci-dessous le discours prononcé dans son intégralité et en anglais :

It is a pleasure to join you today.

Like so many of us, I have travelled far to get to this beautiful location and to the warm welcome our gracious hosts have extended to us.

The majority of us here are mainlanders — we understand the importance of the ocean, but we are not of the ocean… like those who call Palau and this region home.

Here, the health of the ocean — and, by extension, the climate — is not a theoretical concept; it is a matter of life, of legacy, of memory, of prosperity, of generational inheritance and so much more.

Mainlanders often refer to small island states and low-lying regions as “being on the front lines” of climate change.

On one level this is true.

The low-lying costal zone is currently home to around 680 million people and is expected to reach more than 1 billion people by 2050.

Often missed, however, is the deeper message: that the protection of the ocean is relevant and directly tied to all people on this planet. So is addressing climate change.

Despite all the scientific and personal evidence of climate change, many still think of climate change as some distant challenge.

Keeping with this metaphor, it’s how humanity has too long thought about the ocean as well: that it was so big, so distant, that it couldn’t possibly be impacted by our pollution, our chemical poisons, our negligence.

Climate change is our existential emergency, far outweighing any immediate crisis we face. It is borderless and connects us all, regardless of geography.

That’s why we’re here.

Ladies and gentlemen, the six thematic areas this conference addresses reflect this interdependency and geographic connection…

… and each are key to not only repairing our oceans but directly tied to a more sustainable future.

Today, I’ll focus on one of those areas in particular: confronting the ocean-climate crisis and finding ocean solutions to climate change, as it directly impacts the work of the UNFCCC. 

Mitigation and Adaptation

We recognize that the ocean is an enormous carbon sink and absorbs more than 90 per cent of the heat generated by climate change. But this nature-based solution is not limitless, as we clearly see in the increasing acidification of oceans and bleaching of coral reefs.

To repair the oceans that ultimately impact and are impacted by our climate, we must follow the science — which is clearly spelled out in the IPCC’s recent Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.

As the IPCC tells us - we’re currently on track for a 3.2C rise in global temperature by the end of the century. We urgently need a course correction.

In addition to acting as carbon sink, the ocean offers enormous potential for other mitigation and adaptation solutions as well.

For example, as an article in Nature recently pointed out, protecting and restoring ocean habitats such as seagrasses and mangroves, along with their associated food webs, can sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at rates up to four times higher than terrestrial forests can. This work can happen immediately.

In fact, nature-based solutions as a whole offer significant potential to help limit global warming with the possibility of providing around 20% of the emissions reductions needed by 2050.

Renewable energy and, in particular, offshore wind energy has the potential to generate electricity well beyond our current demand.

The potential is there. We can do it. But we must work together to achieve it. We need a massive deployment of these technologies and access to them for all and specially the most vulnerable countries.

For this, one thing is needed above all else: political decisions made at the highest levels. We need them now and in multiple areas. If we continue with the current pace in our process, we will fail to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Let me focus on one specific area, however, as I close my remarks. I encourage Parties to strengthen ocean-climate action in their national climate action plans — known as the NDCs — and their National Adaptation Plans.

In Glasgow, nations were reminded that they must not only submit their plans — as many haven’t — they must make their current plans stronger.

And these stronger plans need to be communicated as soon as possible to the UNFCCC so that, in less than 7 months, when the Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh takes place, we can demonstrate to the world that progress is being made and that the 1.5 goal is still within reach.

Ladies and gentlemen, the solutions are not the problem — urgent action is the problem.

We need your plans, we need your actions, and we need them now.

Key Ask

In fact, I would like to invite all participants here today to do their utmost to ensure that the commitments made at this Our Oceans Conference are included in the NDCs and communicated to UN Climate Change directly.

Conclusion

Ladies and gentlemen,

The ocean has fed and sustained us for centuries, and we cannot continue to pollute and plunder it without regard to consequences.

We are fast running out of time and excuses to get off the path we’re currently on. Nations must have the courage to do exactly that.

I believe there is still an opportunity to shape the 21st century economy in ways that are clean, green and blue, healthy, safe, and just – for all people, especially in the most remote and vulnerable parts of the world.

Thank you.