Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) Director of Science, Professor Steve Widdicombe, is participating in the United Nations’ High-Level Retreat on ‘Investing in Ocean Solutions’, taking place this week (January 14 – 15) in Incheon, Republic of Korea. The retreat serves as a crucial preparatory meeting for the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France, later this year and is focused on accelerating progress toward sustainable ocean management and conservation.
As Co-Chair of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) and focal point for ocean acidification under the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Under Water, Professor Widdicombe is discussing progress on voluntary commitments related to ocean acidification.
The reduction in the pH of the Ocean, which occurs when seawater absorbs increasing amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, poses a significant threat to marine ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. Target 14.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals specifically calls for minimising and addressing the impacts of ocean acidification through enhanced scientific cooperation at all levels.
Published 16 January 2025 ScienceClosed Tags: policy
Ocean acidification (OA), an alteration of seawater chemistry caused primarily by anthropogenic carbon emissions, is a global issue. However, the local expression of OA can vary widely in nearshore waters around the world. This is due to localized factors such as river input, eutrophication, topography, location (e.g., temperature), and sensitivity of local species. Human impacts from OA also vary depending on societal uses of the ocean and its resources. Managers, policymakers, and governments need to understand the status and susceptibility of their regions in order to make effective decisions and drive policy. In the early 2000s, scientists recognized the need for a global ocean acidification observing system and called for a coordinated approach to effectively assess global as well as local status with consistent methods. As a result, the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) was formed in 2012 with three goals: (1) to improve understanding of global OA conditions, (2) to improve understanding of ecosystem responses to OA, and (3) to acquire and exchange data and knowledge necessary to optimize modeling of OA and its impacts (Newton et al., 2015; Tilbrook et al., 2019).
Ocean acidification (OA) is a major challenge for marine environmental governance, and one that has given rise to increasing concern as scientific knowledge of the problem and its impacts continues to grow. This chapter thus explores governance arrangements for strengthening marine ecosystem health and resilience and the extent to which they incorporate responses to OA. There is a complex suite of existing governance arrangements for strengthening marine ecosystem resilience that can be harnessed to help vulnerable aquatic systems as the oceans acidify. However, this chapter also demonstrates that management for OA is, at best, a marginal consideration in existing marine biodiversity conservation regimes, despite the significant threat that OA poses to vulnerable aquatic systems. The chapter therefore highlights a significant potential role for marine ecosystem governance arrangements in promoting meaningful steps towards integrated OA and marine conservation management across multiple governance scales. The chapter briefly summarizes OA science and the socio-ecological impacts of acidification in the oceans, before highlighting the role of strengthening marine ecosystem health and resilience in helping vulnerable aquatic systems cope with OA. The chapter also explores relevant governance arrangements and how they address OA at multilateral, regional and in a limited number of domestic jurisdictions, and underlines key governance opportunities and gaps in existing governance frameworks.
Published 31 December 2024 ScienceClosed Tags: policy
On May 21, 2024, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (the Tribunal) delivered a unanimous advisory opinion on the Request submitted to the Tribunal by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law. This was the first advisory opinion on climate change obligations issued by an international judicial body, and the first of three anticipated advisory opinions on climate change obligations from international judicial bodies. The request had been submitted on December 12, 2022 by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS). Two questions on obligations of states parties under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) were posed in the request: (1) what are the specific obligations to prevent, reduce, and control pollution of the marine environment in relation to the deleterious effects that result, or are likely to result, from climate change and ocean acidification, which are caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere; and (2) what are the specific obligations to protect and preserve the marine environment in relation to climate change impacts and ocean acidification. A total of 34 states parties to UNCLOS and nine intergovernmental organizations submitted statements, and 33 states parties and four intergovernmental organizations made statements during the oral proceedings.
Published 5 December 2024 ScienceClosed Tags: policy
Marine Scientific Research (MSR) under Sustainable Development Goal—14 (SDG 14) has envisioned a new dimension of cooperation for marine environmental protection. This chapter has taken the approach of MSR as provided in SDG 14 to provide a cooperative approach for MSR to protect the marine environment. This chapter analyzes the international law provisions dealing with MSR envisioning cooperation for the protection of the marine environment. The chapter has taken three perspectives of the marine environment: (i) climate change, (ii) fisheries preservation, and (iii) marine protected areas, along with scientific approaches required for marine pollution prevention. The conclusion of this chapter follows the challenges and opportunities for MSR cooperation, which could be a future course of research on the subject matter.
Global climate change scenarios due to anthropogenic responses jeopardize ecosystem sustainability and hinder progress toward achieving the United nations (UN-SDGs). Achieving “natural carbon solutions” from terrestrial ecosystems is challenging due to decreasing arable land and increasing marginal land. Marine ecosystems representing a wider “natural carbon solutions” have also been severely impacted by climate change. Among marine ecosystems, coral reefs and seaweed communities are the key ecosystem engineers that support a wide range of marine life, facilitate nutrient cycling, and provide essential ecosystem services with a pivotal role in sustaining coastal economies and livelihoods. Notably, these communities compete for space within the reef ecosystem and suffer from loss of diversity and richness due to climate change. Therefore, assessing the climate change resilience of both the corals and seaweeds is essential to evaluate and design long-term adaptation strategies, ecological innovations, and science-informed policies to conserve, restore, and sustainably manage economic services. This review article aims to highlight (1) the physiological response and resilience of corals and seaweeds to environmental changes, (2) the impact of climate change on their ecosystems and economic services, (3) their potential contributions towards the United Nations’ sustainable goals, (4) progressive efforts applied for their restoration, and (5) the potential complementary value of large-scale seaweed aquaculture as a carbon sink.
Policies are currently in place to support adaptive capacity of shellfish growers in California and Oregon.
Both specific and broad policies pertaining to OA, and shellfish aquaculture, offer multiple places to develop greater adaptive capacity.
Reducing institutional barriers to daily operations will help shellfish growers’ adaptation as more efforts can be directed to adaptive strategies.
Continued and expanded communication between agencies, scientists and shellfish growers provide pathways to explore adaptation to OA.
Abstract
As ocean pH levels continue to decline due to increased absorption of atmospheric CO2, a process known as ocean acidification (OA), industries dependent on ocean resources must adapt to mitigate negative impacts of OA. Utilizing adaptive strategies identified by shellfish growers in prior, related research, we seek to explore and identify existing U.S. State and Federal policies that pertain to OA, how they might impact the ability for shellfish growers in California (CA) and Oregon (OR) adapt to OA, and where there are opportunities for policy expansion to improve their capacity to adapt to OA. Potential pathways linking adaptation needs with policy processes is discussed.
The Interagency Working Group on Ocean Acidification monitoring Prioritization Plan 2024 calls for Coastal Acidification Networks to identify the ocean and coastal acidification (OCA) monitoring needs most important for their regions. The Northeast Coastal Acidification Network (NECAN) organized a webinar series to study regional needs, which culminated with a workshop in November 2023.
This workshop led to the identification of six priority new Monitoring Needs in addition to the maintenance of current monitoring efforts:
Improve spatial and temporal scale of monitoring co-located OCA variables and biological measurements to better resolve variability of acidification dynamics in concert with biological processes
Increase subsurface monitoring to understand how conditions vary at depth
Increase the number of high-frequency monitoring assets that measure at least two of four carbon parameters
Increase near-real-time and rapid response observing capacity to capture episodic events
Determine fluxes and rates that would help parameterize and constrain regional modeling efforts to understand past conditions and project future trends
Increase spatial coverage of “climate”-quality observations
This report presents monitoring needs and opportunities for consideration by coastal managers, decision makers, researchers, and monitoring groups. It offers options to apply new capacity or funding to the expansion of OCA monitoring in the NECAN region.
Writing the report led to the identification of a number of cross-cutting actions which will lead to the implementation of these Monitoring Needs:
Expand monitoring beyond carbonate chemistry to provide a complete assessment of OCA, its effects, and future trends.
Enhance or leverage existing monitoring platforms for a cost-effective and collaborative approach to creating a more complete OCA monitoring system in the NECAN region.
Expand the NECAN membership to include protected area experts, terrestrial biogeochemists and hydrologists, fisheries experts, social scientists, Tribal liaisons, project leads from large assessments, and other important stakeholders, rights holders and decision makers.
Increase funding in the Northeast to both sustain currently-stretched efforts and grow a more robust ocean acidification monitoring program.
Pursue immediate implementation of proxy approaches or interim strategies for measurements with technological or capacity limitations, while new technologies are being developed.
Synthesize monitoring information to advance the collective understanding of OCA in the NECAN region.
Deploy monitoring assets strategically, with end-user needs in mind, ensuring that the collected data is accessible, relevant, and useful for decision-making.
Share NECAN’s experience in developing these recommendations with other regional CANs.
Human pressures have pushed the Earth system deep into the Anthropocene, threatening its stability, resilience and functioning. The Planetary Boundaries (PB) framework emerged against these threats, setting safe levels to the biophysical systems and processes that, with high likelihood, ensure life-supporting Holocene-like conditions. In this Review, we synthesize PB advancements, detailing its emergence and mainstreaming across scientific disciplines and society. The nine PBs capture the key functions regulating the Earth system. The safe operating space has been transgressed for six of these. PB science is essential to prevent further Earth system risks and has sparked new research on the precision of safe boundaries. Human development within planetary boundaries defines sustainable development, informing advances in social sciences. Each PB translates to a finite budget that the world must operate within, requiring strengthened global governance. The PB framework has been adopted by businesses and informed policy across the world, informing new thinking about fundamental justice concerns, and has inspired, among other concepts, the planetary commons, planetary health and doughnut economics. Future work must increase the precision and frequency of PB analyses, and, together with Earth observation data analytics, produce a high-resolution and real-time state of planetary health.
Published 30 October 2024 ScienceClosed Tags: policy
The 17 SDGs adopted by the UN as part of the 2030 Agenda constitute a global framework for achieving sustainable development. They have become a strategic priority and focus of action for countries worldwide. However, almost halfway into the 2030 Agenda process, its implementation has been seriously hindered by climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, with global progress in individual goals even facing setbacks.
The 17 SDGs adopted by the UN as part of the 2030 Agenda constitute a global framework for achieving sustainable development. They have become a strategic priority and focus of action for countries worldwide. However, almost halfway into the 2030 Agenda process, its implementation has been seriously hindered by climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, with global progress in individual goals even facing setbacks. The goals will not be achieved by 2030 unless implementation is accelerated. In 2021, about one-tenth of the world’s population went hungry; more than three billion people were at health risk due to scarce data on the water quality of rivers, lakes, and groundwater; globally, 733 million people still lacked access to electricity; cities were hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic; four key climate change indicators—global greenhouse gas concentration, sea-level rise, ocean heat, and ocean acidification—hit record highs; increasing ocean acidification, eutrophication, and plastic pollution put the livelihoods of billions of people at risk; and continued global deforestation, land and ecosystem degradation, and loss of biodiversity posed major threats to human survival and sustainable development (UN 2022; Sachs et al. 2022).
Science, technology, and innovation can help address these major challenges, primarily to support assessments at national and local scales and inform policy-making by enhancing data capacity for SDG monitoring and evaluation. The UN Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 pointed out that the pandemic has delayed the development of new national statistical plans worldwide, and there are still considerable gaps in the geographical coverage and timeliness of global data on indicators (UN 2022). Meanwhile, the current indicator data are primarily of coarse-grained statistical values, with the time resolution mostly being “annual” and the spatial resolution mostly “national,” incapable of disaggregation by geographical locations, population distributions, and environmental differences, which are crucial to thoroughly assessing regional differences in SDG progress and identifying those lagging behind. Thus, there is not enough data to effectively inform sub-national governments’ decision-making. According to estimates from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 105 out of the 169 SDG targets will be challenging to achieve without sufficiently engaging sub-national governments (OECD 2020). Many are environmental targets sensitive to spatial and temporal changes.
As the core of digital technology, big data has become an important engine of digital transformation across societies. Big Earth Data, a key part of big data, mainly composed of Earth observation and geospatial data, has the advantages of easy acquisition, timely updates, objective results, and higher resolution. Moreover, it covers different spatial scales and geographical locations free from administrative fragmentation, allowing a more accurate assessment of SDG indicator progress and prompt detection of problems. Its role in analyzing the complex interactions and co-evolution between nature and social systems will contribute to the overall understanding and realization of the SDGs.
Human activities and climate change substantially threaten coastal areas, impacting ecosystem functions, services, and human-wellbeing. Trace elements, from both natural and anthropogenic sources, can contaminate coastal regions, and at high concentrations may become toxic to marine biota. Climate change is likely to affect the sources, sinks and cycling of trace elements in coastal systems: for example, riverine runoff is set to increase as precipitation in the Arctic intensifies, and more frequent extreme floods are expected to activate previously deeply buried trace elements. Furthermore, changes in human activity under a warming climate, such as increased Arctic shipping and potential geoengineering projects such as ocean alkalinity enhancement, will likely introduce more trace elements to coastal ecosystems. Advancing our understanding of trace element cycling is at present limited by factors including lack of data coverage in the Global South, challenges in studying multi-stressor effects and ecosystem responses, lack of long-term data, and the difficulty in parametrizing robust models in coastal environments.
Ocean acidification and biodiversity loss: Connecting the dots with data is a report written by Economist Impact for Back to Blue, an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. The purpose of this report is to highlight the need for ocean scientists to prove causal links between ocean acidification (OA) and damage to marine species, and the challenges involved in doing so.
Summary
The world is living through a biodiversity crisis. The rapid pace at which animal and plant species have declined in recent decades has led some experts to declare that another mass extinction is under way. What distinguishes this from previous periods of accelerated biodiversity loss are its causes. Whereas naturally occurring events—some sudden and cataclysmic, others more gradual—were the triggers in pre-historic times, human actions are the root cause of species decline today. They include over-hunting, over-fishing and over-farming, but potentially the most devastating in the long term is climate change brought about by our unrelenting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
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The impacts of emissions-induced climate change are readily evident in the world’s oceans, perhaps most vividly in the decline of warm water coral reefs caused by warming. Excess CO2 emissions—more than the oceans can safely absorb—are putting many other marine species under direct threat, such as several forms of plankton and shellfish. Those excess emissions also cause ocean acidification (OA), which changes seawater chemistry in ways that make it difficult for many organisms to survive or thrive.
Scientists understand the malign connection between OA and changes to ocean chemistry and biological processes. Many have highlighted the biodiversity loss that will result from OA, and the follow-on harm it will cause to marine ecosystems and the communities that rely on them for food and livelihoods. Policymakers and international organisations are generally aware of the threat that OA poses. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has mandated member countries to actively combat it, and many are putting action plans in place for that purpose. At national, regional and local levels, however, where action is most vital, competing priorities too often deprive those plans of resources and impetus.
Ocean experts advocating for action against OA worry that their efforts are not creating sufficient urgency among policymakers. OA’s effects are not easy to see, unlike other manifestations of climate change. Therefore, scientists are seeking to provide incontrovertible evidence by demonstrating causality between OA and species decline. Doing so will perform another service: making it easier to determine whether OA is or is not the major stressor on marine life in specific environments, reducing the chances that remedial actions are misdirected and cause unintended harm.
Proving causality cannot be done through laboratory research alone. It requires extensive data gathering in the field, where OA’s impact on organisms can be observed in real (not simulated) environments. It also demands much closer co-ordination between researchers monitoring ocean chemistry and those monitoring biological processes— activities that thus far have been unconnected. Although decades of data gathering may be needed before some correlations are proven, the ocean experts pressing for a new approach to research believe many correlations will become manifest in the next few years.
This report discusses how current ocean research approaches can be adapted to yield such correlations. And while decades may be required for some findings to be confirmed, the report also highlights opportunities to demonstrate causality today—environments where the impacts on biodiversity can be viewed in isolation from other stressors. When it comes to prodding policymakers into action, such results could bear fruit sooner rather than later.
In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda and a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), including a goal dedicated to the ocean, SDG 14, which calls to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development”. Under this SDG 14, there are 10 Targets addressing a range of ocean issues and 10 Indicators, which are the measurable components of the Target. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO was identified as the custodian agency for the SDG Target 14.3: “Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification, including through enhanced scientific cooperation at all levels”, and the associated SDG Indicator 14.3.1 (“Average marine acidity (pH) measured at agreed suite of representative sampling stations”).
The SDG 14.3.1 Indicator Methodology provides the necessary guidance on how to conduct ocean acidification observation. The Methodology contains guidance on sampling strategy, measurement methods and calculation, methodology and instrumentation, links to community agreed Best Practices and Standard Operating Procedures, data quality categories and data quality control mechanism as well as recommendations for the calculation of the seawater carbonate system, including how to account for the uncertainty of measurements. It further offers support on how to and what kind of data sets to submit to IOC, to ensure the production of quality-controlled global and possibly regional products of surface ocean acidification.
The full text of the Methodology as well as the data template, the metadata template and the metadata instructions files can be downloaded from the SDG 14.3.1 Data Portal website (https://oa.iode.org/). The SDG 14.3.1 Data Portal is a tool for the submission, collection, validation, storage, and sharing of ocean acidification data and metadata submitted towards the SDG 14.3.1 Indicator.
This present document is an introduction to the SDG 14.3.1 Methodology, providing an introduction to some aspects of the guidance provided within the Methodology. This document should therefore not replace the Methodology; please make sure to read and apply the SDG 14.3.1 Methodology elaborated here.
Anthropogenic CO2 emissions are causing climate change, and impacts of climate change are already affecting every region on Earth. The purpose of this review is to investigate climate impacts that can be linked quantitatively to cumulative CO2 emissions (CE), with a focus on impacts scaling linearly with CE. The reviewed studies indicate a proportionality between CE and various observable climate impacts such as regional warming, extreme daily temperatures, heavy precipitation events, seasonal changes in temperature and precipitation, global mean precipitation increase over ocean, sea ice decline in September across the Arctic Ocean, surface ocean acidification, global mean sea level rise, different marine heatwave characteristics, changes in habitat viability for non-human primates, as well as labour productivity loss due to extreme heat exposure. From the reviewed literature, we report estimates of these climate impacts resulting from one trillion tonne of CE (1 Tt C). These estimates are highly relevant for climate policy as they provide a way for assessing climate impacts associated with every amount of CO2 emitted by human activities. With the goal of expanding the number of climate impacts that could be linked quantitatively to CE, we propose a framework for estimating additional climate impacts resulting from CE. This framework builds on the transient climate response to cumulative emissions (TCRE), and it is applicable to climate impacts that scale linearly with global warming. We illustrate how the framework can be applied to quantify physical, biological, and societal climate impacts resulting from CE. With this review, we highlight that each tonne of CO2 emissions matters in terms of resulting impacts on natural and human systems.
The legal systems for ocean governance and climate change governance are based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, respectively. However, due to differences in their negotiation backgrounds, legal scope, goals, and tasks, there is a lack of interaction between the two at the legal system level. The ocean plays a crucial role in regulating the Earth’s climate system, yet its value is often underestimated in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The aim of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in addressing climate change. Specifically, we will examine the Convention’s ability to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and identify areas where it falls short, such as inadequate regulation of sea level rise, ocean acidification, and ocean fertilization. Based on this, proposals for governance paths from the perspective of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea include developing the Agreement relating to the climate change and ocean governance and reinterpreting the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in accordance with the Paris Agreement. The content should be adapted more flexibly to current climate change challenges, and provisions related to sea level rise and maritime boundaries should be reinterpreted to fill legal gaps. In addition, it is important to establish coordinated regulatory rules and framework agreements to address the issues of ocean fertilization and ocean acidification. Finally, to remedy the shortcomings in proving causation, scientific theories and due diligence obligations should be attributed. Through these measures, effective ocean law governance paths that address climate change can be explored.
Ocean acidification (OA) is broadly recognized as a major problem for marine ecosystems worldwide, with follow-on effects to the economies of ocean-dependent communities. The urgent need to mitigate and minimize the impacts of OA is a scientific and political priority, as highlighted by the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report (IPCC, 2022) and by the inclusion of OA as a target in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In addition, over 20 years of strong scientific evidence on the impacts of OA provides compelling arguments for urgent CO2 mitigation. Reducing CO2 emissions will require ambitious regulatory and economic instruments, as well as effective systemic changes across governments and societies. It is critical to implement adaptation measures to minimize the impact of OA, among other key environmental stressors, as the mitigation process takes time, and the impacts of OA are already felt globally. Assessing the impacts of solutions and their potential implementations requires information at local scales, considering the variabilities in marine ecosystem responses to OA (e.g., local adaptation, species redundancies).
One of the main challenges for designing OA mitigation and adaptation strategies is the lack of data on chemical changes and biological impacts from developing countries. A minority of scientific publications on OA stems from research undertaken in the Global South. For example, only 14% of publications describing OA studies in the Atlantic Ocean have a first author from the Global South (OA-ICC bibliographic database 2024; https://www.iaea.org/services/oa-icc/science-and-collaboration/data-access-and-management). This highlights the lesser involvement of researchers from the Global South in the field of OA and the need for further training to develop local leadership. Studying OA requires implementation of specific and complex best practice methodology, for example, for the measurement of seawater carbonate chemistry (e.g., Feely et al., 2023). The successful execution of sustained measurements and experimentation in developing countries is hindered by a general lack of basic OA literacy and exacerbated by a lack of infrastructure, instrumentation, and financial support.
Features new chapters on emerging technologies for climate change mitigation, including non-CO2-GHGs
Comprehensively covers the impact of climate change
Provides clear scientific rationale for the reality of climate change
About this book
Now in its 4th, extended edition, this completely revised and significantly expanded handbook addresses important new research findings and the global need for action related to climate change in its two most relevant aspects: mitigation and adaptation.
There is a growing consensus that anthropogenic activities have been driving global climate change, and the consequence will be catastrophic for civilization. Reducing the 37.1 billion metric tons of CO2 produced annually (2017 global emissions) along with other greenhouse gases, particularly methane, has become a leading grand challenge and the pursuit of sustainable energy, environments, and economies is a complex issue affecting the daily life of every citizen.
In this 4th edition, readers will find new chapters covering the causes and impacts of global warming, the climate change impacts on health, biodiversity, and the economy, and emerging technologies for climate change mitigation. Particular attention is given to topics such as wildfire threats, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, sea level rise, and permafrost thaw. The latest research on sustainable aviation fuels, carbon mineralization, and smart cities is also covered in this new edition, as well as topics like sustainable building design, climate-resistant building materials, and sustainable agriculture.
The Handbook of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation collates information in this multi-disciplinary area, providing readers with a comprehensive overview of the scientific background and current and emerging technologies. Intended for an interdisciplinary, global audience of researchers and decision-makers at universities and in industry, it covers climate change models; established, mature, and promising future technologies and ideas; the impact of climate change; strategies for dealing with global warming; the related political frameworks; and climate education.
The chapter provides an overview of the book and addresses the rationale for the selection of cases reflecting teaching and research in major areas of SDG14. For example, the impact of increasing global sea temperature, ocean acidification, and pollution on aquatic life and biosciences. Fisheries and aquaculture for seafood and marine ingredients and marine protected areas (MPAs) that favour the assemblage of fish, crustaceans, alga, coral, and mussels to enhance and stimulate biodiversity. New products derived from marine biotechnology are viewed to conserve and sustainably use the seas and oceans whilst promoting wealth creation and employment. Marine parks allow scientists to better study the marine environment and explore sustainable balances between tourism, work, and recreation in harmony with the Life Below Water – SDG14 mandate. Finally, the aspects of governance and roles of stakeholders and societal involvement are advocated in achieving the safe and effective use of marine resources. Throughout, the role of higher education in providing educated scientists and multidisciplinary specialists for future generations to come is highlighted.
A comparative policy analysis was conducted to examine the current efforts, priorities, and goals for climate adaptive fisheries management at the Federal, Regional, and State level from 2014-2024 by categorizing the resulting documents into four climate adaptive management elements. We are currently encountering a novel challenge in effectively responding to environmental changes resulting from the effects of climate change. This study establishes the expectations of the Federal and State governments and how the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) is responding to those expectations. The federal government (through documents, legislation, and Executive Orders) has established a low bar of expectations, only calling for increased research on climate change impacts on marine resources and broad actions or guidelines with no direct strategy for implementation. The exception to this is the NOAA Fisheries Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management Policy (effective 2016) and the NOAA Fisheries Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management Road Map (effective 2017) which established the only clear expectation of an all-inclusive climate adaptive management framework, along with direction on how to implement it. State governments lacked climate action plans specifically tailored for fisheries, beyond the mandated Wildlife Action Plans, lack comprehensive strategies to address climate-related stressors affecting their marine resources. The NEFMC has begun effort towards climate adaptive management through their draft eFEP for Georges Bank that provides a more flexible and adaptive management strategy by creating a plan that considers a broader range of goals, objectives, and improvements of ecosystem services. However, this document represents the beginning and can serve as a model for addressing similar challenges faced by other species affected by climate change, such as shifts in stock distribution. This study aims to identify State and Federal management strategies that promote climate adaptive fisheries management and assess strategies for the NEFMC to implement for future management strategies.
Disasters and climate-related events, including tropical storms, droughts, coastal erosion, and ocean acidification, threaten small island nations. Given the urgency of reducing disaster risks and the effects of climate change on vulnerable populations, this reflection essay pursues three objectives. First, it highlights the role of anthropology, ethnography, and multi-sited research in exploring disaster impacts, climate crises, and public policy in island communities. It then highlights national planning and inter-regional activities to build awareness of various risk reduction efforts by island nations and multi-governmental organizations. This article concludes with discussion prompts to engage researchers, scholars, students, and practitioners studying and working in small island nations. Due to the growing interest in climate equity and justice, this paper argues that anthropologists can offer valuable methodologies and approaches to develop transdisciplinary and nuanced insights into researching disaster risk reduction efforts and climate policy networks in and across island nations.
