Ocean Blue Economy- Deja Vu COP 20 in the Eye of Storm

National Geographic Best Award Photograph Eye of the Storm 

As December 15th 2014 comes to a break the United Nations Climate Change COP 20 Summit and its work for Oceans becomes unclear. Results are for some negative while other are more optimistic on the global leaders and their efforts in face of climate change. The issues at times seem to be too much to cope even for an Atlas who carries the weight of the world and the weight of the oceans on its shoulders. 

On December 8th several international press double sided the reports of the COP 20 and the destructive Philippines Typhoon Hagupit. Tree Alerts described the issue as “deja vu” others assured that negotiations were overshadowed by the reminder of nature of its destructive force. 

“The impacts of climate change appear to be escalating the damage that more than a million Filipinos are now dealing with as Typhoon Hagupit continues to dump massive amounts of rain over the island nation. The “agonizingly slow” pace of the storm, which is connected to climate change, means the city of Manila, which has 12 million inhabitants, could see as much of two feet of rain before the storm passe,” press reported. 

Unfortunately it is not only Manila which suffers to natural disasters linked to ocean and climate. Floods cause millions of evacuated, hundreds of thousands of deaths, billions in damages and destruction throughout the world. Poor countries are the most affected others include Bangladesh, Brazil, France, China, Pakistán, Czech Republic, Peru, US and several other Latin American countries. 

The Verb reported that as “Friday’s sun rose over the vast Pacific ocean to light up the Western shores of Lima, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) put the state of the ongoing international climate negotiations in a new light.”

According to the UNEP report if we are able to keep global warming below the agreed upon 2ºC threshold, the world will need US$150 billion annually by 2025 and as much as $500 billion by 2050 to finance the adaptation needed to cope with a dramatically changed world.

Ocean Security International OSI held  an  inaugural Conference in Lima, on the eve of COP 20 Lima Peru on 30th November  and 1st December. OSI presented projects for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management. Environmental Protection, Sustainability Strategies and Measures on Waste, Energy and Related Concerns.

OSI also highlighted the importance of the “Blue Economy”. On December 9th the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rajendra Pachauri urged for people to focus on the Blue Economy. 

At the inaugural event of OSI Pachauri addressed the views of the Blue Economy to representatives of 25 countries. 

“There is much talk on the green economy but little is known on the Blue Economy, this is a new approach. We must take into consideration that the level of the oceans has increased in the past years 90 centimeters, This increase affects us uniformly but the most affected are the insular countries and those located in coastal zones,”  the Peace Prize Laureate commented and detailed other major issues, marine traffic, marine resources, exploration, coastal urban deveñop,ent, acidification, chemical alteration, climate issues, ocean dynamics, alteration of trophic chains, contamination, etc. 

Pachauri voiced for Blue Certificates -an initiative for inclusion in the COP 20 declaration. The certification would be managed by the OSI and support good practices. Other ocean proposals were presented to the Lima Summit COP 20 where 150 countries of the world had the challenge of meeting a global environmental agenda to combat climate change for the benefit of humanity.