A scientist originally from St. John’s made the case for more investments in ocean-based solutions at the recently completed COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan.
While the conference wrapped Sunday without specific reference to oceans, Niall O’Dea and others pressed for recognition that the ocean and its ecosystems have been enduring “adverse and widespread impacts” because of climate change.
“The science is clear,” said O’Dea, a biologist who is from St. John’s and now works in Ottawa with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans as a senior assistant deputy minister.
“The ocean is essential to our efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change” O’Dea said during his recent presentation in Baku, Azerbaijan.
“Yet, it is also being profoundly impacted by these very changes, undermining its ability to regulate the earth’s climate.”
O’Dea worked with Julio Cordano, a COP29 delegate from from Chile, to facilitate an ocean dialogue and develop findings to inform a global climate solution.
On Sunday, a group called Friends of the Ocean and Climate released a joint statement that addressed the importance of oceans. Canada is one of the signatories to the statement.
O’Dea and Cordano highlighted the ocean’s essential role in mitigating climate change, and helping communities adapt. It also emphasized the need for ocean-based climate solutions to be integrated into countries’ climate action plans.
$300B deal reached Sunday
Negotiators from almost 200 countries were supposed to agree on a deal on Friday. Countries eventually came to a deal worth at least $300 billion US aimed at helping poor countries deal with the damages of climate change.
The deal is supposed to see wealthier global north countries, like Canada, pay money to developing countries to manage climate change.
The acrimonious COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, has ended with a deal that includes $300 billion US in climate funding for developing countries — far short of the $1.3 trillion they were looking for. Climate advocates call the amount ‘too little, too late.’
O’Dea described last week’s conference as “organized chaos.”
“I’m feeling a lot of sympathy for my environment and climate change colleagues,” O’Dea said.”I know people [were] working hard to get to a finish line.”
O’Dea said investments should go towards leading-edge ocean-based technologies, or strengthening coastal infrastructure to withstand more extreme weather events.
“What we’re looking to make clear, through the dialogue and the reports we’ve issued, is that the ocean and ocean-based solutions are a place where that investment really needs more focus, and where really good investment opportunities exist,” he said.
Ocean-based climate solutions
O’Dea said his work is focused on coming up with ways countries can convene to fight climate change with ocean-based solutions. He would like to see ocean-based climate solutions be integrated into countries’ national climate plans.
He cited kelp beds are an example of ocean-based climate solutions. They are a natural habitat that, like seagrass and mangroves, can store carbon but can also help reduce the impact of storm surges.
“The dialogue has really been sharing lessons between the Global South and the Global North about how efforts to restore those kinds of habitats can help to protect coastal communities,” said O’Dea told On The Go.
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