Progress report for
A commitment to reduce ocean noise pollution
Achievement at a glance
The 19th United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) Informal Consultative Process focused on impacts of Ocean Noise to marine life. The leads of the voluntary commitment served as panelists and delivered a presentation on key issues. Since the UN Ocean Conference and UNCLOS ICP meeting, impacts from Ocean Noise continue to receive global recognition as a topic of concern. This is reflected in the most recent annual Omnibus Resolution of the UN General Assembly, where the UN issued strongest language to date in relation to anthropogenic ocean noise, recognizing it as impacting marine life, expressing concerns on socio-economic and environmental impacts of underwater ocean noise, and calls upon states to note this issue. Further, recent measures to improve noise quieting measures for ship noise have been initiated within the International Maritime Organization (IMO).<br>
<br>Within the last six months, we launched the multi-disciplinary international partnership that enlists industry, government, academia and NGOs to use research and technology to monitor and mitigate ocean noise impacts and inform wise policy – The Global Alliance for Managing Ocean Noise (GAMEON). This effort is a key step toward fulfilling progress and deliverables related to our voluntary commitment.
<br>Our understanding of ocean noise has matured significantly in recent decades, and we believe it is time for an International Alliance to promote and address noise pollution.
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<br>Funding was secured for the kick-off meeting, which was held at IUCN in Gland, Switzerland in early October 2019. The way forward envisions a structure that supports incremental as well as transformative work in noise mitigation, from technological advances to wise policy creation, with feedback mechanisms that continually improve GAMEON. Experts and stakeholders from all relevant sectors will be invited to collaborate on resolving key challenges in a multi-sectoral/stakeholder fashion focusing on technology, research, policy, industry and monitoring.
Challenges faced in implementation
The largest challenge faced has been securing resources to meet our projected timeline for the voluntary commitment. Fortunately, we secured funding for the formative meeting, and have another proposal currently pending for additional meetings over the next three years to advance key benchmarks related to the voluntary commitment. Another meeting is tentatively scheduled for April 2020. We anticipate the launch of GAMEON will result in the completion of the Situation analysis and resulting deliverables (provided additional funding is secured), albeit approximately 18 months behind the original projected schedule. A proposal to hold a workshop at the 2020 IUCN World Conservation Congress for GAMEON was submitted and is pending.Next Steps
The launch of GAMEON included specific visions for progress in noise quieting methods, new partnerships for monitoring noise disturbance, action-oriented collaboration with industry, and informed and actionable regulatory policies. These include global objectives that will require sustained and strategic action over decades. However, targeted next steps toward action and implementation were identified. These include a workshop in Spring 2020 focused on cross-sectoral solutions for both quieting technologies and implementation for monitoring, evaluating and regulating noise impacts for all major industries and methods. This workshop will include action-ready representatives from all relevant sectors. We intend that these initial GAMEON implementation plans will include milestones for progress and products that will be presented at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in June 2020. These products will also be developed to provide synthetic conclusions and recommendations for consideration within the Our Ocean Conference process.Beneficiaries
Global Convening Bodies (e.g, United Nations Division on Law of the Sea, IUCN, IMO), Regional, Geographical Focused efforts, Accords focused preservation of wildlife, Regional governing, Regulatory agencies from Individual Governments, Private research and acoustic science organizations, Industry-representation via associations, Representative from individual companies from various sectors (e.g. Oil & Gas, Shipping, Renewable Energy development), Conservation NGOs, Academia