The Global Ocean Forum, in association with the Department of Environmental Affairs of the Government of South Africa, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO), the University of Delaware, and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, and with support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), invite you to:
Oceans Day at Durban
At the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP 17)
December 3, 2011, Rio Conventions Pavilion, Climate Change Response Expo, Centrum Car Park, Bram Fischer Road, Durban, South Africa
PURPOSE:
Oceans Day at Durban is the third Oceans Day at a UNFCCC Conference of the Parties. The Global Ocean Forum has previously organized:
- Oceans Day at Copenhagen at the UNFCCC COP 15, on December 14, 2009 (first-ever Oceans Day organized at a UNFCCC COP) http://www.oceansday.org/pdf/summary.pdf
- Oceans Day at Cancun at the UNFCCC COP 16, on December 4, 2010 http://www.globaloceans.org/sites/udel.edu.globaloceans/files/Cancun_Summary.pdf
Oceans Day at Durban will draw high-level attention to ocean issues at the climate talks at COP 17 in Durban. Oceans Day will highlight the direct link between climate change, the health of the oceans, and human well-being, as well as the need for sufficient funding to support bold mitigation and adaptation measures that will minimize climate change impacts on coastal communities and ocean resources.
MAJOR TOPICS:
Major topics to be addressed during Oceans Day at Durban include:
- Building a Comprehensive Program on Oceans and Climate
- Climate Change and Sustainable Development: Tying COP 17 Outcomes to the Rio+20 Process
- Urgent Action on Climate Change: Ecological, Social and Economic Rationale
- Climate Change and Fisheries
- Progress on Major Issues: Ocean Acidification, Blue Carbon
- Financing, Capacity Building, and Public Education
- Mobilizing a Coastal and Ocean Caucus of Countries at the UNFCCC COP 17
