Climate conference urges world to protect oceans

Melinda Chickering, Associated Press 14 May 09;

MANADO, Indonesia (AP) — Rising sea levels, warming waters and spiraling acidity caused by global warming are threatening the world's oceans and the communities they support, governments warned Thursday, as they sought to include protection for the seas in a new U.N. climate treaty.

Not only marine ecosystems, but the lives of tens of millions of people could be affected as they are forced to leave inundated coastal communities and find new jobs, they said.

"We must come to the rescue of the oceans," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the opening of high-level government talks at the World Ocean's Conference in the northern city of Manado.

"We must preserve them as our legacy for our future generations so that they may live free from the shackles of poverty," he said.

Scientists have long warned that higher temperatures will melt polar ice and cause sea levels to rise, wiping out island communities and destroying coastal ecosystems. Rising emissions of carbon dioxide are also making oceans increasingly acidic, eroding sea shells, bleaching coral and killing other marine life.

But many questions remain about oceans — which can also play an important part in absorbing carbon — partly because the technology to study them is relatively new.

Participants at Thursday's meeting want negotiators at U.N. climate change talks, scheduled to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December, to discuss the world's waters including concerns about the affect of greenhouse gas emissions on oceans when replacing the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in recorded remarks Thursday that the world must "do more to protect our oceans and preserve the long-term health of our planet and its people," noting that the two are closely linked.

The effects of climate change, she said, "can be seen not only in melting glaciers and dying coral reefs, but also in damaged homes, falling wages, rising poverty, diminished opportunities."

The two-day meeting in Manado, which brings together ministers and high-level officials from more than 80 countries, was preceded by a series of symposiums on science, technology and policy makers. It wraps up Friday.

A similar gathering will be held next week in Washington, D.C., with the focus on the need for improved marine conservation.

"The fact that less than 1 percent of the world's oceans are covered by marine protected areas is a catastrophe waiting to happen," Dan Laffoley of the International Union for Conservation of Nature said in a statement.

"Just because these places are under water and not highly visible does not mean they should be ignored," he said. "It's time to expand marine protected areas and save our oceans from threats like overfishing and climate change."

Nations demand oceans be included in climate talks
Aubrey Belford Yahoo News 14 May 09;

MANADO, Indonesia (AFP) – Ministers and officials from more than 70 nations called Thursday for oceans to be included on the agenda of global climate change talks aimed at finding a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

Delegates at the World Ocean Conference in Indonesia urged joint action to reverse the impact of climate change on the oceans and for the issue to be included in crucial climate talks in Copenhagen in December.

The Manado Ocean Declaration calls for cuts to ocean pollution, funding for sustainable development in poor countries, greater research into how climate change affects the ocean and the role oceans play in fighting climate change.

"The declaration represents a political commitment by participating governments to address the common questions of sea level rises, ocean acidification, changing weather patterns and other climate-related phenomena," US delegation head Mary Glackin said.

The non-binding declaration contained no specific commitments for funding or emissions targets and was criticised by some scientists as too weak to combat likely devastating sea rises and the destruction of key species.

Delegates also said pressure from developing countries including the United States, Canada and Australia saw the watering down of key declaration clauses that would have made stronger calls for the inclusion of oceans in a post-Kyoto framework and the provision of funding for poor countries.

The outcome of the talks was "disappointingly weak given the severity of the problem," Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a scientist at Australia's University of Queensland, told AFP.

"If their commitment is weakening then this is all going to unravel," he said.

Hoegh-Goldberg was the lead author of a report commissioned by environment group WWF this week that said reefs in Southeast Asia's Coral Triangle could disappear by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions are not drastically cut.

The collapse of the region, said to be the ocean's richest ecosystem and home to half the world's coral, would destroy food and livelihoods for over 100 million people and trigger mass migration to cities and neighbouring countries.

The report is one of a number of gloomy scenarios floated at the five-day conference, billed as the first time nations have gathered to discuss the link between oceans and climate.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told delegates in a recorded statement that nations needed to work harder to conserve oceans and fight climate change.

"Changes to our oceans threaten their ability to provide for their families and make a better life for their children," she said.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned the future of the oceans was a "life and death issue" for humanity.

"Today it is time for the world to hear yet another important message: that we can only survive the 21st century if we are united in caring for and preserving our oceans," Yudhoyono said.

Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett said the declaration was significant.

"You can't underestimate how important it is to have such a significant number of countries sign on," he said.

"This is an important declaration and it will enable strong and positive and constructive actions to be taken."

But the head of a bloc representing small island nations likely to be the hardest hit by rising sea levels said the agreement was only a small step in long negotiations to replace Kyoto when it expires in 2012.

"I don't think it's adequate... but I think the pieces of the solution are being laid and that is important at this juncture," Grenada's ambassador to the UN and Alliance of Small Island States chairwoman Dessima Williams said.