COP31 is being touted as the “Blue COP.” And that’s good news for Ocean Pavilion organizers, who have been pushing for the ocean and ocean communities to play a more prominent role in global climate solutions.
The pavilion, now in its fifth year, is led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. WHOI Senior Advisor to the President and Director on Ocean and Climate Policy Dr. Kilaparti Ramakrishna anticipates the ocean will play a more prominent role in this year’s diplomatic discussions.
"I'm really looking forward to this conference, because we are working hard to have the governments and the United Nations recognize the role that the ocean plays in climate," he said. "And I think that recognition is finally coming to fruition."
Ramakrishna added, "The kind of attention that the ocean has been given in this particular COP has never been the case before."
Case-in-point is the conference mascot, a cartoon loggerhead sea turtle named Caretta.
But, Ramakrishna said, recognition is just the first step:
"We need to make sure that the decisions taken now contribute both to climate stabilization and maintaining ocean health. That is the challenge."
The Ocean Pavilion is helping to steer discussions ahead of the COP with its Antalya Ocean Declaration.
