In December 2023, the 28th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC was hosted in the United Arab Emirates. Representatives from the International Partnership on MPAs, Biodiversity and Climate Change (IPMPABCC) hosted multiple events both in person and virtually.
Global Ocean Forum Event: Investing in Ocean Nature-based solutions to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change (10th December 2023) hosted by the Government of Chile and Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute. The side event provided an opportunity for national and international partnership initiatives to share their experiences in investing in collaborative mitigation and adaptation. The event showcased how national and international partnerships can promote carbon sequestration through MPAs/other ocean nature-based solutions, promote adaptation through coral reef restoration and carbon stock conservation from developed and developing country experiences and foster investments in SDG priorities. More information on the event can be found here.
US Event Center: Marine Protected Areas as Ocean Nature-based Solutions to Mitigate and Address Climate (9th December 2023). This session highlighted the latest methodologies and results of calculating carbon storage in the UK and US MPAs, collaborations respond to the impacts of a changing ocean environment that is killing coral reeds an ecosystem and economic driver, as well as highlight how technical information is being shared and transferred among countries that are members of the International Partnership on MPAs, Biodiversity and Climate Change. A recording of the event can be found here. Three new case studies were launched at the event on the role of MPAs in addressing climate change.
For those that could not attend in person, the International Partnership also hosted two events at the COP28 Virtual Ocean Pavilion. The Pavilion was open to members of the public, where they could access live and on-demand events, interact with attendees and visit the booths in the exhibit hall. Alongside many other exhibitors, the IPMPABCC showcased our vision, goals and the work we have collaborated on to date.
Virtual Ocean Pavilion event Friday 8th December 2023:- MPAs Role in Meeting Climate Change Goals: Investigating and Protecting Blue Carbon in MPAs. This event focused on putting nature at the heart of climate action. To provide evidence to national and international policy makers on the role MPAs can play to conserve biodiversity, mitigate climate change, and to adapt to climate change in order to inform and promote the role of MPAs as nature-based solutions to meet Nationally Determined Contributions. Protecting and restoring blue carbon habitats is necessary for global climate change targets. Speakers at this event shared methodologies to assess blue carbon habitats, blue carbon habitat restoration case studies, and methodologies to understand existing protection and potential gaps.
Virtual Ocean Pavilion event Saturday 9th December 2023:- Investigating and Protecting Seabed Carbon in MPAs. Long-term storage of carbon sequestered in the marine environment occurs in the ocean’s sediments, which represent the largest non-fossil pool of organic carbon on the planet. Due to their extensive area, seabed sediments represent a large and globally important carbon store and long-term sink. A process to model carbon density will be shared. This process can be applied to understand the carbon stores in existing MPAs to ensure adequate benthic habitat protections and can be applied when selecting and designing new MPAs.