Progress report for
Supporting the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification
Achievement at a glance
Ocean Conservancy's work supporting the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance) is well underway. In 2017, we hired a full-time fellow who works closely with OA Alliance leadership to recruit new members and support development of members' OA Action Plans. The fellow has supported the OA Alliance's presence at several international convenings to date (e.g., UN Ocean Conference, Our Ocean Conference, and COP23), helping prepare presentation materials and determining opportunities to recruit additional members. The fellow is also gathering information on how individual members plan to engage with the OA Alliances main goals, using a survey that identifies critical areas of concern, expertise, efforts currently underway, etc. This process will provide fundamental information to connect relevant affiliate members with government members to support them in the process of creating regional OA Action plans.<br>
<br>During 2018, the fellow will be facilitating one-on-one conversations with members to identify tools, information, and partnerships to support the development of OA Action Plans. In addition, after a successful convening of the OA Alliance at Our Ocean Conference 2017, members showed enthusiasm for the OA Action Plan Toolkit, founded on research published by Ocean Conservancy, and expressed interest in further developing it into an interactive and adaptable resource. The fellow will be working closely with members to incorporate best practices, regional interests, and solutions into the new toolkit.
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<br>In addition, Ocean Conservancy has dedicated capacity to growing the OA Alliances international size and impact, leveraging our worldwide network of stakeholders and governments. With our support, Alliance member governments have already helped recruit other new members. And Ocean Conservancy is facilitating conversations among member governments about how OA can be best integrated into international climate policy and addressed by the global community.
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