- This event has passed.
Organised in Baku, Azerbaijan, the 29th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or COP29, gathers world leaders and experts to accelerate global efforts to tackle the climate crisis.
With 2024 expected to be the hottest year on record, and climate impacts such as sea-level rise and more intense floods and storms are impacting countries across the world, this year’s climate summit is critical to secure ambitious and concrete actions to put the world on track to a sustainable future for all.
The ocean is our strongest ally against climate change, but climate change is severely harming the ocean and its ability to regulate the climate. Protecting the ocean and the services it provides to people and the planet is imperative, the same way that addressing climate change is inseparable from preserving and restoring the health of our ocean.
To help put the ocean at the heart of the global conversation on climate change, the COP29 Ocean Pavilion will bring together world leaders in ocean science, engineering, and policy to carry the message that the ocean matters to everyone, everywhere and that science must lead the way in our quest for safe, long-term solutions to climate change.
Throughout COP29, partners and actors of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (‘Ocean Decade’) will highlight the critical role the ocean plays in regulating our climate and showcase ocean-based solutions to climate change.
Ocean Decade Vision 2030 White Paper for Challenge 5: Unlocking Ocean-Based Solutions to Climate Change – What Does Success Look Like?
Thursday 14 November ⏰ 15:00 – 16:00 local time 📍 Ocean Pavilion 🟦 Blue Zone
The Ocean Decade recently completed a strategic ambition setting process, called Vision 2030, to identify a common measure of success for each of the 10 Ocean Decade Challenges on the road to 2030. The results of this process were published in 10 White Papers, one for each Challenge, and consolidated in the report: “Ambition, Action, Impact: the Ocean Decade pathway to 2030”.
Organised by Fugro, an Ocean Decade partner and co-chair of the Ocean Decade Corporate Data Group, this panel will use the Ocean Decade Vision 2030 White Paper on Challenge 5 to discuss the strategic ambition, key recommendations, and milestones and indicators, sharing perspectives on what success looks like from various sectors, industries, and stakeholder roles for Decade Challenge 5 on the ocean and climate nexus.
Speakers include:
- Robert Hoddenbach, Global Director Climate and Nature, Fugro
- Lauren Uppink Calderwood, Head of Global Engagement & Thought Leadership, Ørsted
- Julian Barbière, Head, Marine Policy & Regional coordination and Global Coordinator of the Ocean Decade, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC)
- Evgeniia Kostianaia, Ocean Decade endorsed Programme for Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOP Programme)
Key Ocean Decade research on negative carbon emissions
Tuesday 19 November ⏰ 13:30 – 14:30 local time 📍 Ocean Pavilion 🟦 Blue Zone
Organised by the Global Ocean Negative Carbon Emissions (ONCE) program, this event will gather scientists and experts to discuss how ocean negative carbon emissions can help mitigate climate change.
The Global ONCE Program, an initiative endorsed by the Ocean Decade, aims to co-design responsible and ethical road-map for sustainable ecosystems while increasing carbon sinks.
This event will focus on exploring the technical standards of ocean negative emissions, which will lay a foundation for the promotion of global carbon trading, and will promote an all-round response to climate change, from investment to implementation, from national adaptation to international cooperation.
Speakers include:
- Peter Thomson, United Nations Secretary-General Special Envoy for the Ocean
- Prof. Nianzhi Jiao, Professor Xiamen University, Academician of CAS, TWAS and AAM
- Dr. Vladimir Ryabinin, Independent expert consulting the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, former UNESCO-IOC Executive Secretary
- Dr. Leonardo Valenzuela Pérez, Ocean Visions
- Noa Olenik, Rewind
- Yernar Sailybayev, Caspian Eco.
Capacity Development for the Ocean We Want: Perspectives from Early Career Ocean Professionals
Wednesday 20 November ⏰ 09:00 – 10:00 local time 📍 Ocean Pavilion 🟦 Blue Zone
This event will discuss capacity development needs and challenges encountered by Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPs) in various regions based on the results of the activities of the ECOP Programme, an initiative endorsed by the Ocean Decade.
Event participants will share the lessons learnt from work done under the ECOP Programme, discuss recommendations for further cooperative actions, and highlights the critical questions funding, inclusion of underrepresented communities and their challenges for the successful uptake of capacity development opportunities.
Speakers include:
- Evgeniia Kostianaia, ECOP Programme
- Kotaro Tanaka, Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation
- Anita Dkhar, Deputy Head of Division for International Cooperation, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Marine Research Center LLC
- Sarah Viana, Africa Node Coordinator, ECOP Programme
The Power of Film for Climate Action and the United Nations Ocean Decade
Wednesday 20 November ⏰ 14:00 – 15:00 local time 📍 Extreme Hangout 🟩 Green Zone
Bringing stories from the ocean, this Film Festival for the UN Ocean Decade will feature a series of short films to highlight the incredible biodiversity of pristine regions of the world including Patagonia, the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, sailing with Peace Boat through the fjords of Alaska and into the wilderness of the mangrove forests in Mexico.
Organised by Peace Boat US as part of the Youth for the SDGs programme, an initiative endorsed by the Ocean Decade, this event brings together scholars including representatives from Palau, Costa Rica, Hawaii, the United Kingdom, and Trinidad and Tobago to share their insights from the films. Director’s talks will feature a session with filmmaker Luis Barreto, from Colombia, after his short film “HOPE” from Peace Boat’s voyage to the Arctic and will showcase his short feature film of 30 minutes entitled “Against the Tide: A Journey for Climate Hope”.
Peace Boat US will also hold a press conference on “Youth Engagement and Empowerment: Action for the UN Ocean Decade” on 19 November at 10:30-11:00 local time in the Press Conference 2 room, Area C.