Marine scientists have urged governments at the upcoming biodiversity COP16 to ramp up funding for research for ocean acidification (OA) to avoid disaster, in a report published on Wednesday.
Without significant investment in research, OA could push biodiversity to a tipping point with irreversible damage to marine life, said the Back to Blue initiative, ahead of this month’s UN biodiversity conference in Cali, Colombia.
Governments must embed OA evidence into their climate action plans, Professor Steve Widdicombe, report contributor and director of science at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, told Carbon Pulse.
“This is an essential requirement of meeting Target 8 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF),” said Widdicombe.
Established in 2022, this target requires governments to minimise OA impacts on biodiversity – but implementation has lagged.
“I’ve been studying the impacts of ocean acidification for two decades and a tidal wave of ocean calamity is on the horizon.”
OA results from the ocean absorbing excessive atmospheric CO2, increasing its acidity. The shift disrupts marine life, endangers food chains, and threatens ocean-dependent economies.
Only a handful countries currently have national plans to address OA, leaving significant gaps in action, said the report by Back to Blue, an initiative by The Economist’s research arm and the Nippon Foundation. These nations include the US, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
Comparing OA to other stressors is challenging due to limited biological data, said Widdicombe. More research is essential to isolate its impacts, understand specific threats to marine ecosystems, and improve protection efforts.
“In reality, OA doesn’t act in isolation and is part of a cocktail of co-occurring stresses faced by marine ecosystems,” he said.
“The more we can monitor OA rates and trends, alongside observations of biological change, the more power we will have to identify the true impact of OA.”
Scientists from institutions, including the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), stressed the need for immediate funding to uncover definitive proof of OA’s role in biodiversity loss in the report.
COMMON INDICATORS
Scientists are championing an approach to linking OA with its impacts on biodiversity by adopting of common indicators. Previously, they have not been linked systematically, the report said.
Members of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network, including Widdicombe, have developed a set of indicators spanning the topics of changes to:
- Shell and skeleton biomass
- Plant and algae growth
- Reproduction in marine organisms
- Marine community structures
- Genetics
CREDITS
Marine credits can be effective if widely recognised, and supported by clear evidence showing the benefits of addressing OA for biodiversity, said Widdicombe.
“One of the services provided by biodiversity might be that it increases ecosystem resilience to climate change and OA impacts,” said Widdicombe.
“In the meantime, any efforts that will strengthen and restore biodiversity could help to reduce the detrimental impacts of OA on marine life.”
However, serious questions remain as to whether marine market instruments could be scaled to ensure they will have a tangible effect on the environment, he said.
Organisations including Plan Vivo and the Wallacea Trust have launched voluntary methodologies for generating units from biodiversity uplift in aquatic environments.
By Thomas Cox – t.cox@carbon-pulse.com
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