AMBASSADOR PETER THOMSON’S CLOSING ADDRESS FOR THE MEETING OF THE BECAUSE THE OCEAN INITIATIVE, MONACO OCEAN WEEK

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

What a pleasure it is to be amongst so many friends at this meeting. That fact actually presented me with a problem in preparing these remarks, because since we have worked so closely together, shared our ideas in common, and worked tirelessly for the same Ocean-Climate goals, I imagined that after you have already articulated the important messages this afternoon, there would be little left for me to say.

I have just come from making a live keynote address at the WMO event to celebrate World Meteorological Day, so let me begin by saying to everyone, ‘Happy World Meteorological Day!’  WMO’s choice of theme for this year’s event was “the Ocean, our climate and weather”, and in the countdown to the all-important COP26 in Glasgow in November, that choice of theme could not have been more timely. It reflects the UN’s wish to bring synergy to our consideration of the problems and solutions redolent in Climate Change, Food Systems, Biodiversity loss, and the decline in the Ocean’s health.

Everything is connected, and there is little to be gained from blinkered toil. We have much work to do; so let us ensure we do it together, with common purpose for the universal good.

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As I said in my speech at the WMO today, it still amazes me that with the Ocean covering over 70% of the planetary surface, and with the majority of life on this planet harbored within it, that so much of our economic and scientific endeavor has basically ignored the Ocean. In fact, the great majority of the Ocean’s properties remain unknown to science and we are only scratching the surface of the potential benefits of the sustainable blue economy.

The time has come for us to change all that for the better, always ruled by the principle of sustainability, in the process bringing greater respect and balance to our relationship with the Ocean. And so, with the start of 2021, we have begun the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, during which we expect to witness a huge upsurge of knowledge about the Ocean.

Dear Friends,

With the heartening return of the United States to the Paris Agreement, it was particularly pleasing to see that great champion of Ocean Action, Senator John Kerry, appointed as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. True to his long commitment to the Ocean’s well-being, in his January speech at the Ocean and Climate Summit, Senator Kerry said, “You cannot protect the Ocean without solving Climate Change, and you cannot solve Climate Change without protecting the Ocean….So we need to say goodbye to silos. When you are meeting about the Ocean, you are meeting about the Climate…” and of course, vice versa.

But I ask you, how do we better operationalise that synergy? Advocating to be at the top table is one thing, but what do we say when we get there? I have the distinct impression that we need to better hone our Ocean-Climate messaging.

Yes, we want to see greatly heightened ambition of Nationally Determined Contributions, all containing relevant Ocean elements like the protection and restoration of mangroves, kelp and sea grasses, the banning of bottom trawling, effective source-to-sea pollution control commitments, and greater recognition and protection of the Ocean’s role as a carbon sink.

And yes, thanks to the many studies and reports issued, prominent amongst which were those of the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, we know of the very significant contributions Ocean-based activities can make to our Climate Change mitigation efforts. Offshore renewable energy, the greening of shipping, sustainable aquaculture, the protection of coastal ecosystems, and sub-seafloor storage of CO2 are all lining up for implementation.

But the Ocean’s contribution as a carbon sink seems yet to have been mainstreamed by the intergovernmental process on Climate Change, and since this contribution is and will further atrophy under prevailing conditions, we have little time available to correct the current in which we are gripped.

And so, I put the challenge to the Because the Ocean initiative, let us have the courage and conviction to grasp this blade, and sharpen it further to the task ahead. It represents the response to the proper question of what we the worldwide community of Ocean activists actually want from the intergovernmental UNFCCC process. On less than one page, present the sharp response to that question and we will cut through all the bureaucratic prevarication of those who purport to know better than we do on this existential journey.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said in his State of the Planet speech in New York last December, that humanity has been waging a war against Nature, and that the time has come, before it is too late, for us to make peace with Nature.

To a gathering such as this, I need not spell out the role of anthropogenic greenhouse gases in taking us towards the brink in that war against Nature. But I do say to you that we must all decide whether we are on the side of the peacemakers or not. And let me say that overcoming the great existential challenges of our times, requires the Ocean’s place to be front and centre in all planning related to Biodiversity loss and the looming Climate Crisis.

And please allow me to also restate, loud and clear, that those anthropogenic heat-trapping gases are the common enemy of the Climate Crisis and the declining health of the Ocean. It is thus that we say that Climate Change and Ocean Change are inextricably linked, and it is inspiring to us all that the initiative of Because the Ocean has reinforced this ethos throughout its existence. In the name of our children and grandchildren, let us stay true to this righteous path.

I thank you for your attention to my words today.