Abstract: Published in October 2021, this policy brief summarises the key research findings for the One Ocean hub from Ghana, Namibia, South Africa on the ocean-climate nexus. The research yielded key messages which required urgent consideration by the international climate change regime. While these key messages were addressed to COP26 (2022), they remain valid for future UN Climate Summits as the international community still needs to make progress on systematically integrating the ocean in future climate mitigation and adaptation action (notably nature-based solutions).
A valuable research contribution of the One Ocean Hub is clarifying why and how we need to strengthen the nexus between the ocean, climate change, biodiversity and human rights. Despite the connection between terrestrial ecosystems, biodiversity loss and climate change featuring in academic works and global media headlines for several years, the nexus between the ocean, climate change and biodiversity has only recently been placed on the agenda of the international climate change process. On the other hand, under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a series of guidance documents have already addressed an array of issues at the intersection of climate change, biodiversity and human rights, which relate directly or implicitly to ocean management.