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Giving the Ocean a Fighting Chance Through the Great Blue Wall

Credit: Great Blue Wall

By James A Michel
VICTORIA, Seychelles, Dec 2 2024 – The Ocean is our life source, but for decades it has been repeatedly marred by humankind. With the disposal of pollutants into the Ocean, overexploitation of Ocean resources and the human-driven increase of global temperatures, the Ocean is changing and not for the better. Our Oceans are warming, corals are dying, fish stocks are declining, toxic chemicals are being released into the Ocean – these eAects are clearly visible today, but there is hope. There are organisations from all around the world that are fighting to save our Ocean.

James A Michel

Backed by coastal communities, governments, the private sector, NGOs and donors, is a growing global multi-stakeholder partnership led and driven by the global south. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Great Blue Wall Initiative stands out as a first-of-its-kind eAort to create a connected network of protected marine areas to combat climate change and global warming in the Western Indian Ocean. It is a roadmap which spearheads the establishment of a connected network of regenerative seascapes. This network will be connected by a living blue wall that will act as a regional ecological corridor formed by conserved and restored critical blue ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses, corals and coastal forests.

Whilst the Great Blue Wall will act as a wall against climate change impacts and biodiversity loss, it will also protect coastal communities, their culture and livelihoods, and create the enabling conditions and necessary mechanisms to accelerate the development of a regenerative blue economy. By 2023, the Great Blue Wall will equitably and eAectively protect, conserve and manage at least two million km square of the Ocean; it will support the achivement of a net-gain of biodiveristy by conserving and restoring at least two million hectares of critical ecosystems and sequester more than one hundred million tons of carbon; and it will unlock regenerative livelihood opportunities and create at least two million blue jobs, whilst advocating and providing support to countries in the global south.

At the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which took place in Glasgow in 2021, I delivered the opening speech at the Launch of the Great Blue Wall Initiative. There, I urged all countries to continue presenting a strong common front and work together turning ambitions into concrete actions to unleash the potentials of the Blue Economy, and called on countries and organisations with resources to partner with us on this journey to promote and develop an inclusive nature-people blue economy architecture based on the Great Blue Wall, unlocking the full potential of the development of the blue economy driven by conservation and regeneration.

Since its launch, the Great Blue Wall has achieved many milestones:

Credit: Great Blue Wall

Through these milestones, the Great Blue Wall promises to deliver. It promises to accelerate and upscale ocean conservation actions while enhancing socio-ecological resilience and the development of a regenerative blue economy by catalysing political leadership and financial support.

When I was first presented with this initiative, I was immediately convinced of its uniqueness, its purpose, the outcomes it aims to achieve and the nature-people relationship it is seeking to re-establish and strengthen. So, I pledged my full support to the Great Blue Wall and have promoted it ever since. In November 2024, I was appointed as a High-Level Champion of the Great Blue Wall at the 29th meeting of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. And during this conference, it was also announced that the Great Blue Wall will be partnering with the ODISEA expedition on an expedition to explore and protect biodiversity in the Western Indian Ocean. In this press conference I was moved by the words of Thomas Sberna, IUCN Regional Head Coastal and Ocean Resilience of Eastern and Southern Africa:

    “[This expendition] is about giving a voice to the unheard and bringing a light to the unseen. It’s about telling their stories. It’s about enabling them to produce the science that will inform their decisions and unveiling the local knowledge that will guide their actions. This expedition will bear witness and be an actor in what will be remembered as the Rise of our Blue Guardians.”

Today, many people are taking ownership of their responisibilty of the future of the Ocean behalf of present and future generations. Today, the Blue Economy is seen as a driver of conservation and development and we are unlocking its full potential. It can be sustainable. It can be regenerative. It can be people-centred.

To guide its development and implementation, and to achieve its goals, the Great Blue Wall is based on a premise of three key pillars – regenerative seascapes, climate change and a regenerative blue economy – to create resilient systems built upon strengthening connectivity and diversity at all levels and of all nature.

Credit: Great Blue Wall

Fourteen years ago, I saw the architecture of the blue economy concept as the savior of our planet. Today, this reality is being talked about in all countries around the world. There is an ecological imbalance in the Ocean and its eAects are reaching us. It is important for all of us to remember that our relationship with the Ocean is one of reciprocity. Whilst we are dependent on it for our survival, it depends on us to ensure it is able to continue to provide for us.

James Alix Michel, former President of Seychelles.

IPS UN Bureau

 


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Confronting the Global Crisis of Land Degradation

The 16th session of the Conference of Parties (COP 16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2 to 13 Dec. 2024

By UN Department of Global Communications
RIYADH Saudi Arabia, Dec 2 2024 – A major new scientific report was launched December 1, a day ahead of the opening of the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP16).

The report charts an urgent course correction for how the world grows food and uses land in order to avoid irretrievably compromising Earth’s capacity to support human and environmental wellbeing.

Produced under the leadership of Professor Johan Rockström at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in collaboration UNCCD, the report, titled Stepping back from the precipice: Transforming land management to stay within planetary boundaries, was launched as nearly 200 countries convene for COP16 starting on Monday, 2 December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The report draws on roughly 350 information sources to examine land degradation and opportunities to act from a planetary boundaries’ perspective. It underlines that land is the foundation of Earth’s stability and regulates climate, preserves biodiversity, maintains freshwater systems and provides life-giving resources including food, water and raw materials.

It outlines how deforestation, urbanization and unsustainable farming are causing global land degradation at an unprecedented scale, threatening not only different Earth system components but human survival itself.

The deterioration of forests and soils further undermines Earth’s capacity to cope with the climate and biodiversity crises, which in turn accelerate land degradation in a vicious, downward cycle of impacts.

“If we fail to acknowledge the pivotal role of land and take appropriate action, the consequences will ripple through every aspect of life and extend well into the future, intensifying difficulties for future generations,” said UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw.

According to the UNCCD, the global area impacted by land degradation – approx. 15 million km², more than the entire continent of Antarctica or nearly the size of Russia – is expanding each year by about a million square km.

Planetary boundaries
The report situates both problems and potential solutions related to land use within the scientific framework of the planetary boundaries, which has rapidly gained policy relevance since its unveiling 15 years ago.

“The aim of the planetary boundaries framework is to provide a measure for achieving human wellbeing within Earth’s ecological limits,” said Johan Rockström, lead author of the seminal study introducing the concept in 2009. “We stand at a precipice and must decide whether to step back and take transformative action, or continue on a path of irreversible environmental change,” he adds.

The planetary boundaries define nine critical thresholds essential for maintaining Earth’s stability. The report talks about how humanity uses or abuses land directly impacts seven of these, including climate change, species loss and ecosystem viability, freshwater systems and the circulation of naturally occurring elements nitrogen and phosphorus. Change in land use is also a planetary boundary.

Six boundaries have already been breached to date, and two more are close to their thresholds: ocean acidification and the concentration of aerosols in the atmosphere. Only stratospheric ozone – the object of a 1989 treaty to reduce ozone-depleting chemicals – is firmly within its “safe operating space”.

Unsustainable agricultural practices
Conventional agriculture is the leading culprit of land degradation according to the report, contributing to deforestation, soil erosion and pollution. Unsustainable irrigation practices deplete freshwater resources, while excessive use of nitrogen- and phosphorus-based fertilizers destabilize ecosystems.

Degraded soils lower crop yields and nutritional quality, directly impacting the livelihoods of vulnerable populations. Secondary effects include greater dependency on chemical inputs and increased land conversion for farming.

Climate change
Meanwhile, climate change – which has long since breached its own planetary boundary – accelerates land degradation through extreme weather events, prolonged droughts, and intensified floods. Melting mountain glaciers and altered water cycles heighten vulnerabilities, especially in arid regions. Rapid urbanization intensifies these challenges, contributing to habitat destruction, pollution, and biodiversity loss.

The report also states that land ecosystems absorbed nearly one third of human-caused CO₂ pollution, even as those emissions increased by half. Over the last decade, however, deforestation and climate change have reduced by 20% the capacity of trees and soil to absorb excess CO₂.

Transformative action
According to the report, transformative action to combat land degradation is needed to ensure a return to the safe operating space for the land-based planetary boundaries. Just as the planetary boundaries are interconnected, so must be the actions to prevent or slow their transgression.

Principles of fairness and justice are key when designing and implementing transformative actions to stop land degradation, ensuring that benefits and burdens are equitably distributed.

Agriculture reform, soil protection, water resource management, digital solutions, sustainable or “green” supply chains, equitable land governance along with the protection and restoration of forests, grasslands, savannas and peatlands are crucial for halting and reversing land and soil degradation.

From 2013 to 2018, more than half-a-trillion dollars were spent on agricultural subsidies across 88 countries, a report by FAO, UNDP and UNEP found in 2021. Nearly 90% went to inefficient, unfair practices that harmed the environment, according to that report.

New technologies
The report also recognizes that new technologies coupled with big data and artificial intelligence have made possible innovations such as precision farming, remote sensing and drones that detect and combat land degradation in real time. Benefits likewise accrue from the precise application of water, nutrients and pesticides, along with early pest and disease detection.

It mentions the free app Plantix, available in 18 languages, that can detect nearly 700 pests and diseases on more than 80 different crops. Improved solar cookstoves can provide households with additional income sources and improve livelihoods, while reducing reliance on forest resources.

Numerous multilateral agreements on land-system change exist but have largely failed to deliver. The Glasgow Declaration to halt deforestation and land degradation by 2030 was signed by 145 countries at the Glasgow climate summit in 2021, but deforestation has increased since then.

Some key findings include:
Land degradation is undermining Earth’s capacity to sustain humanity;
Failure to reverse it will pose challenges for generations;
Seven of nine planetary boundaries are negatively impacted by unsustainable land use, highlighting land’s central role in Earth systems;
Agriculture accounts for 23% of greenhouse gas emissions, 80% of deforestation, 70% of freshwater use;
Forest loss and impoverished soils drive hunger, migration and conflicts;
Transformation of land use critical for humanity to thrive within environmental limits
Read the full press release with more facts and figures in all official languages, as well as with daily media updates: https://www.unccd.int/news-stories/press-releases

The COP is the main decision-making body of UNCCD’s 197 Parties – 196 countries and the European Union. UNCCD, the global voice for land, is one of three major UN treaties known as the Rio Conventions, alongside climate and biodiversity, which recently concluded their COP meetings in Baku, Azerbaijan and Cali, Colombia respectively.

Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of UNCCD, COP 16 will be the largest UN land conference to date, and the first UNCCD COP held in the Middle East and North Africa region, which knows first-hand the impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought. COP 16 marks a renewed global commitment to accelerate investment and action to restore land and boost drought resilience for the benefit of people and planet.

IPS UN Bureau

 


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