One Ocean Hub Written Evidence to the UK Parliament International Development Committee: Climate Change and Development

Summary
We are entirely reliant upon a healthy ocean. The ocean contributes to the renewal of freshwater;
it absorbs over a quarter of global carbon dioxide, and it produces half the oxygen we breathe.
For many years, however, the connection between biodiversity loss, climate change, and human
rights has been overlooked. Our written evidence highlights the importance to adopt a rightsbased approach and consider the connections with marine biodiversity in climate change
adaptation and mitigation, mainly with regard to the human rights of indigenous peoples and
local communities. The One Ocean Hub research in our focus countries including South Africa,
Ghana, and Namibia shows that indigenous peoples and local communities are most vulnerable to
climate change, have less means to adapt, and are often marginalised and excluded from climate
negotiations and ocean-related decision making across all scales of governance. We noted that
while the establishment of Marine Protected Areas do support climate change adaptation
and mitigation, the creation of new protected areas around the world needs to respect
human rights, particularly those of indigenous peoples and local communities.
In this written evidence, we also draw attention to the cultural and spiritual services provided
by the ocean to humankind that are largely overlooked in discussions about climate change
and ocean governance. Adaption to the rapid and vast changes to the ocean, driven by climate
change, and how people relate to them culturally and spiritually, will be essential to maintain the
services and values that the ocean provides.
This written evidence also serves to share researcher findings from the One Ocean Hub pointing
to the direct impacts of climate change upon coastal communities and ocean ecosystems. Our
research in South Africa, Ghana, and Namibia reveals that climate change has induced forced
migration among coastal communities that relies on fisheries resources and exacerbated conflict
among different fisheries stakeholders. In terms of the impacts on ocean ecosystems, our research
provides evidence of how climate change has direct and rapid impacts on the porosity of coral
frameworks, leading to loss of coral reefs and the biodiversity that they support, a decline in
suitable habitat for cold-water corals and deep-sea fishes, and the persistent droughts that plague
areas of South Africa.
As the impacts of climate change upon ocean ecosystems and coastal communities are well-known, we recommended the Government to take the following steps to address the remaining
challenges prior, during, and after COP26:
 First, to promote inter- and trans-disciplinarity and science/policy engagement on the
nexus of climate change, oceans, biodiversity, and human rights. Given the
complexity of the challenges we will need to bring different stakeholders and experts
from different disciplines, including social sciences.
 Second, to scale up research and mitigation process to ocean-basin and regional
scale. Research at ocean-basin scale is needed to understand different areas of the oceans
that are under greater risks, develop monitoring tools, and design appropriate mitigation
strategies.
 Third, to take the UK’s international obligations related to capacity building,
recognizing diverse knowledge systems and support technology transfer seriously,
particularly in low and middle income countries, so as to make lasting changes. Our
experience shows that fair partnerships in international research collaboration is a
key element to advance efforts at the nexus of climate change, biodiversity, ocean and
human rights.