Commonwealth nations gather to boost ocean protection efforts

As COP16 biodiversity talks kick off in Colombia this week Commonwealth leaders are gathering in Samoa to tackle ocean protection. The timing is crucial‚ with recent research showing that only 83% of global marine areas are protected

King Charles is expected to join the week-long Commonwealth meeting‚ where 49 out of 56 member countries have coastlines. These nations control 36% of the worlds national marine waters making them key players in ocean conservation

We are driving hard on that There is a real commitment to 30 by 30

The Commonwealth Ocean Declaration‚ which leaders are expected to sign focuses on:

• Climate adaptation
• Marine protection
• Sustainable blue economic development

Experts stress the need to link ocean protection with climate change mitigation. Oceans have been absorbing CO2‚ but this capacity is weakening. Activities like bottom trawling release carbon stored in the seabed – a recent study suggests 340-370 million metric tons of CO2 were released annually from 1996 to 2020 due to seafloor trawling

Small island nations face unique challenges in protecting their waters and adapting to climate impacts. Many struggle to attract investment for infrastructure projects due to their small size. The Commonwealth is working to address this by pooling expertise and using AI to predict climate impacts and secure adaptation finance

For instance Fiji successfully obtained funding for a nature-based seawall using AI to analyze data and predict future climate impacts. This model could help other small island states access adaptation finance more quickly

As leaders confront the realities of climate and biodiversity crises in Samoa‚ the hope is that these discussions will drive action at both COP16 and the upcoming COP29 climate meeting in Baku next month