The recent call for a Blue New Deal to combat the impacts of the global climate crisis on our oceans and waterways is timely.
A fisherman asked a question at CNN’s climate town hall this past week that got Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) very excited.
With all the focus on protecting land from global warming, he said, what about the other 70 percent of Earth? Do we need a “Blue New Deal” to protect the oceans?
“I like that!” Warren responded. “He’s got it exactly right, we need a Blue New Deal.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren wisely adopted Governor Jay Inslee’s Evergreen Economic Plan (EEP) which is a blueprint for transitioning America’s manufacturing, housing, and transportation sectors to clean energy. While there is a large section on ocean shipping in the EEP, fighting the impact of climate change on the world’s oceans and waterways requires a global approach which can be found in Governor Inslee’s Global Climate Mobilization plan.
Promoting Ocean-Smart Climate Action and Global Collaboration on Oceans Protections
Oceans are a critical life-support system for the planet — and they are under siege because of climate change. Since the start of the industrial revolution oceans have absorbed approximately 90% of the extra heat that climate pollution has trapped in the atmosphere – leading to an increase in global ocean temperatures, with implications for sea ice and biodiversity. They have also absorbed one-third of global carbon pollution produced by human activities, which during the past two centuries has driven ocean waters to become 30% more acidic. Increased ocean warming and acidification — combined with other stressors such as reduced oxygen levels, local land-based pollution, increased plastic pollution and systemic overfishing — are already having significant, adverse impacts on fisheries, aquaculture, and marine ecosystems that sustain communities around the world. The IPCC estimates that a 2-degrees Celsius climate change temperature increase would result in the loss of 99% of the world’s coral reefs — significantly more than the levels of coral reef loss anticipated under a 1.5-degree Celsius scenario.
Confronting these challenges requires action at home, but truly effective ocean-smart climate action is dependent upon global collaboration and sustained global action. In hosting the 2019 meeting of the UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP25), Chile intends to emphasize the importance and scale of the many climate change-driven impacts the world’s oceans are already experiencing. Furthermore, oceans need to be understood as a crucial part of the solution set.
The Inslee Administration will take a global leadership role in further international action to protect our oceans, including:
- Joining Canada, France, Chile and other nations, and several U.S. states, in the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance) — a global coalition of national, subnational and indigenous jurisdictions, NGOs, businesses and other partners dedicated to taking action to protect coastal communities and livelihoods from the threat of ocean acidification. The OA Alliance was co-founded by Governor Inslee and other West Coast leaders, flowing from their leadership on ocean acidification in the Pacific Coast Collaborative.
- Championing ocean-smart climate action in UNFCCC fora, including broad international understanding and action on how each country’s commitments under the Paris Agreement can incorporate and mitigate ocean-based climate impacts, as well as incorporate ocean-based solutions ranging from aquaculture to blue carbon to offshore wind and tidal energy.
- As called for in Governor Inslee’s Evergreen Economy Plan, investing in and enhancing domestic programs that improve the health of marine and freshwater ecosystems, and restore wetlands, mangroves, and coastal habitats. This includes EPA Geographic Programs, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) coastal restoration and salmon recovery programs, as well as Army Corps of Engineers shellfish aquaculture permitting, and other programs.
- Promoting domestic and international efforts to confront plastic pollution. This includes policies that reduce consumption of single-use plastics, and others that promote more widespread and efficient recycling practices with greater integrity and that establish markets for recycled materials, such as recycled-content standards. Already NGO-industry collaboratives, like the Trash Free Seas Alliance, have made steps to confront these challenges.
- Promoting international progress in fisheries management policies and best practices aimed to recover and support more sustainable fish stocks that will be better able to adapt to climate change. This includes confronting nations that continue to support over-fishing.
- Taking action to promote marine-protected areas at home and abroad, including rejecting any actions taken by the Trump Administration to repeal or shrink the size of marine national monuments. [Links and bolding added]
We need leadership which completely reverses the reckless isolationist “America First” policy and embraces a closer relationship with the United Nations as never before. Despite the criticism that the United Nations endures, as a body it continues to remain seized of the problems of the world, attracting the world’s experts and constantly working in the field and forging alliances.
Governor Jay Inslee states that the global climate emergency represents an opportunity for global unity on a scale we have not seen since World War II gave us a common enemy. America is the only nation which can step forward to lead this battle.
Below is a history of how the United Nations has remained seized of global environmental problems beginning with the famous Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
The SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals] build on decades of work by countries and the UN, including the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
- In June 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, more than 178 countries adopted Agenda 21, a comprehensive plan of action to build a global partnership for sustainable development to improve human lives and protect the environment.
- Member States unanimously adopted the Millennium Declaration at the Millennium Summit in September 2000 at UN Headquarters in New York. The Summit led to the elaboration of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce extreme poverty by 2015.
- The Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development and the Plan of Implementation, adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Developmentin South Africa in 2002, reaffirmed the global community's commitments to poverty eradication and the environment, and built on Agenda 21 and the Millennium Declaration by including more emphasis on multilateral partnerships.
- At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012, Member States adopted the outcome document "The Future We Want" in which they decided, inter alia, to launch a process to develop a set of SDGs to build upon the MDGs and to establish the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. The Rio +20 outcome also contained other measures for implementing sustainable development, including mandates for future programmes of work in development financing, small island developing states and more.
- In 2013, the General Assembly set up a 30-member Open Working Group to develop a proposal on the SDGs.
- In January 2015, the General Assembly began the negotiation process on the post-2015 development agenda. The process culminated in the subsequent adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with 17 SDGs at its core, at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015.
- 2015 was a landmark year for multilateralism and international policy shaping, with the adoption of several major agreements:
- Now, the annual High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development serves as the central UN platform for the follow-up and review of the SDGs.
Notwithstanding presidential candidates’ desire to originate their own plans, I greatly admire Senator Elizabeth Warren who sets that particular ego boost aside to endorse a better plan for the common good. I urge her and others to adopt a global perspective in order to battle the global challenge of climate emergency.
Blogathon
September 20-27 on DK
September 20 is the launch of an entire week of global climate action. From Friday September 20 to September 27, people of all generations all over the world will be mobilizing.
Here are the dates for the climate strike
https://globalclimatestrike.net/
It has sign ups for strikes all over the world.