UN Climate Change News, 7 October 2025 – The informal summary report of the 2025 Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue, released at the end of September, urges countries to step up ocean action in their new national climate plans (NDCs), scale up finance for ocean solutions, and strengthen synergies between climate, biodiversity and ocean health.
The annual Dialogue, mandated at COP26, took place during the 62nd session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA62) in June, and was co-facilitated by Ambassador Carlos Cozendey of Brazil and Ulrik Lenaerts of Belgium.
“This year’s ocean and climate dialogue demonstrated once more how critical ocean-based climate action is for reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement and for following up on the global stocktake,” said Ulrik Lenaerts.
“While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, sustainable ocean climate action has a huge potential in contributing to the 1.5°C goal and in building resilience to climate change,” added Lenaerts. “We need to grasp these opportunities and make them an integral part of our NDC cycle and of our actions implementing the Global Goal on Adaptation. Synergetic actions on ocean, climate and biodiversity will make our response to these interlinked challenges better and more impactful.”
On the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), the report recommends integrating the ocean across all relevant GGA thematic targets, including disaggregated indicators that capture ecosystem integrity and connectivity. It also highlights the importance of aligning indicators with existing multilateral frameworks such as the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Global Biodiversity Framework to reduce duplication and maximize impact.
The Dialogue underscored the importance of international cooperation and welcomed momentum from initiatives such as the Blue NDC Challenge, launched by Brazil and France, and the 2025 UN Ocean Conference declaration “Our ocean, our future: united for urgent action.” It also stressed that the implementation of the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) provides a critical opportunity to advance integrated ocean governance that supports climate ambition beyond national jurisdictions.
Finance emerged as a central issue.
“Ocean solutions cannot remain on the margins. We need finance that is predictable, accessible and targeted to those who need it most—developing countries,” said Ambassador Carlos Cozendey. “Blue finance must match the ambition we are asking Parties to deliver in their new NDCs.”
The report underscores that finance, technology and capacity-building are critical enablers for advancing ocean action.
At COP30, the co-facilitators will present the Dialogue’s outcomes and host a special event for Parties and observers to exchange on the report’s key messages.
