UNESCO

From 2–6 December,
the Ocean &
Climate Platform,
established with
the support of IOC-
UNESCO, organized
a mobilization at
Le Bourget to raise
awareness about
the major role of the
ocean as a climate
regulator. Romain
Troublé and Elodie
Bernollin from Tara
Expeditions and
Stéphane Latxague
from Surfrider
Foundation Europe
(in this photo)
participated along
with several other
major partners of
IOC-UNESCO.
© Thierry Nectoux
128
and to design effective solutions for a
sustainable future. The outcome declaration,
‘Science offers robust foundations for
ambitious outcomes at COP21 and beyond’,
stated that ‘Ambitious mitigation to limit
warming to less than 2°C above preindustrial
levels is economically feasible.’ However,
if we are to limit warming to this level,
emissions must be zero or even negative by
the end of the 21st century.
IOC-UNESCO at the forefront
The earth’s ocean is one of the two main
suppliers of the oxygen we breathe – the
other are forests – and acts as a major
regulator of the global climate system.
IOC-UNESCO is the UN organization
charged with promoting ocean science
and the study of ocean-related impacts,
and coordinating international scientific
cooperation over these issues. It provided
its expertise at a dozen joint exhibitions
and events before and throughout COP21.
IOC-UNESCO began its COP21 countdown
with a heavy mobilization of scientific and
civil society institutions around ocean and
climate science and awareness-building.
More than 1,200 people, including policymakers,
scientists, civil society organizers
and youth representatives assembled at
the UNESCO Headquarters on 8 June 2015.
The event also counted on the high-level
participation of Heads of State and senior
decision-makers, from H.S.H. Prince Albert II
of Monaco and H.E. President Tommy
Remengesau of Palau, to Laurent Fabius,
COP21 President and French Foreign
Minister. Stakeholders engaged in various
workshops and round tables focused on
the ocean-climate nexus, all celebrating the
World Ocean Day under a common message
of ‘Healthy Ocean, Protected Climate’.
During COP21, IOC-UNESCO
participation comprised three types
of events. In the Conference Centre,
it participated in events geared
towards decision-makers and national
delegations. In the Climate Generations
Areas, events were aimed especially
at civil society stakeholders. The third
area was ocean-related events that ran
parallel to COP21 in Paris, including
a film screening, press conferences
and seminars.
A warmer atmosphere and an
acidifying ocean are worsening the
nefarious impacts of pollution, overfishing
and unsustainable development on the
resilience of our ocean. This argument
was at the heart of the side-events that
took place at COP21. ‘One Ocean, One
Climate, One UN: Working together for a
healthy and resilient ocean’ was organized
by UN-Oceans, the UN inter-agency
coordination mechanism and coordinated
by IOC-UNESCO. The event provided an
opportunity to highlight how science is
essential to support effective policies
and climate action, as well as what the
UN System is doing to help States’ effort
in climate change mitigation and coastal