COP25 side event: The IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate

The IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC): Implications and way forward for ACP Small Islands, Coastal and low-lying zones.

A side event of the ACP Secretariat and the Pacific Community (SPC)

The Secretariat of the ACP Group of State in collaboration with the Pacific Community organised this event in the margins of the twenty-fifth session of the Conference of Parties (COP25) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which took take place from the 2nd to the 13th December in Madrid, Spain.

OBJECTIVES

The side event was to:

• Discuss the findings of the IPCC report;
• Share on-ground experiences from ACP Islands States, coastal and low-lying zones; and
• Share adaptation measures in place or planned in ACP countries.

MAIN TAKEAWAYS FROM THE EVENT: 

• Emphasis on the importance of oceans for economies of ACP countries especially SIDS and coastal zones;
• 70% – 90% of world coral reefs could perish with a rise of temperatures above 1.5°C;
• Raise in sea level pose existential threat to SIDS and low-lying zones; the shift in marine resources is already causing uneven distribution of fish stocks, for example, tuna stocks rose 37% in Papua New Guinea, but they reduced by 67% in Cook Islands;
• Every increase of 0.5°C matters; every year without action matters; every action matters; the time for action is now.
• Dangerous anthropogenic changes are already happening in the Pacific; and
• It was proposed for the ACP Secretariat to be a hub to coordinate studies on oceans in the Caribbean and Africa.