Ocean\nacidification is \u201cone of the greatest scourges from the development of\nanthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions to have both concrete and global impact,\u201d\n<\/em>H.S.H Prince Albert of Monaco.\n <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The change in seawater chemistry caused by excess atmospheric CO2 absorbed by the ocean weakens coral reefs and slows their growth. A high CO2 ocean will affect marine organisms and the health of wider ecosystems, and has potentially huge consequences for coastal communities and their economies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ocean acidification is of significant growing concern for researchers modelling the type and magnitude of ocean acidification impacts, for governments identifying policy interventions and for coastal communities seeking to maintain current economic activities and benefits. This is where the Scientific Center of Monaco and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stepped in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bridging the Gap Between Ocean Acidification and\nEconomic Valuation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Since 2010, the Scientific Center of Monaco and the Environment Laboratories of the International Atomic Energy Agency have organized a series of workshops on \u201cBridging the Gap Between Ocean Acidification and Economic Valuation\u201d in order to convene international expertise, consolidate the current state of knowledge and make recommendations for policymakers in response to ocean acidification. <\/p>\n\n\n\n International workshop involving 53 experts from 20 countries<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On 12-14 January 2015, 53 experts from 20 countries were invited on the occasion of the Third International Workshop to work on the potential effects of ocean acidification on different coastal communities and what could be done about it. I was one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our recommendations Interdisciplinary\ndiscussions In multi-disciplinary\nworking groups we discussed the impact of ocean acidification on fisheries,\ntourism, trade, marine business and traditional culture, along with potential\nadaptation and capacity-building policy responses for these sectors and\ngovernments. We considered ways to model the cascade of potential impacts of\nocean acidification on human activities. We focused on pathways of impact and\npossible adaptations through social transformation in the context of the UN\nSustainable Development Goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My role \u2013\nWorking group on coastal communities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As a socio-economist specialist of fisheries and aquaculture issues, I contributed specifically to the discussions of the working group on coastal communities who depend on the ocean for their livelihoods, and for whom ocean acidification is a growing threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our discussions focused on assessing the vulnerability of different countries and areas to ocean acidification. Factors such as habitat, resource and culture were taken into account and considered alongside the potential for adaptation strategies. Our key points were that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Effective community responses to ocean acidification are likely to require effective management of change, a process guided by long-term vision and leadership, to drive sustainable use practices, particularly when the benefits largely accrue outside short-term political cycles.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of the global nature of ocean acidification, national\ngovernments and the international community have a big role to play to assist\ncoastal communities in their responses. Actions include: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Mainstreaming ocean acidification into climate change\npolicies, plans and investment strategies at community and national levels\n(rather than creating additional new and separate responses); <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Raising knowledge and awareness of ocean acidification\nimpacts and responses to inform policies and plans and to prioritise actions\nand investments; <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Building resilient and sustainable fisheries and\naquaculture, including through reduction of ocean acidification and non-ocean\nacidification stressors (e.g. reduction of CO2 emissions or pollution), supporting diversified coastal\ncommunity economies and livelihood options, through community empowerment and\ncommunity engagement in fisheries co-management; <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Accessing climate finance to (re)build \u2018blue carbon\u2019 sinks,\nsuch as mangrove forests, to explore possible local ocean acidification\nmitigation measures, or to \u2018seed\u2019 corals which show more resilience to ocean\nacidification; <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Fostering public and private investment in social, economic and environmental capital, particularly in communities and regions considered most vulnerable to the negative overall impacts of ocean acidification and other stressors, including in strengthening leadership and capacity in producer and community organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Outputs and visibility of the meeting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Results brought to the Secretary-General of the United Nations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In June 2015, the results of the meeting were circulated as a document of the 69th session of the General Assembly, under agenda item 74(a) Oceans and the Law of the Sea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Report of the meeting<\/strong> Mitigation, adaptation and research recommendations for policymakers to avoid the catastrophic impact of ocean acidification on coastal economies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,67,52,13,35],"tags":[39,69,68],"class_list":["post-494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquaculture","category-climate-change","category-fisheries","category-policy","category-vulnerability","tag-adaptation","tag-coastal-communities","tag-ocean-acidification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=494"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":904,"href":"https:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494\/revisions\/904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Group-pict-Monaco-OA-1024x681.jpg\")
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\n<\/strong>As\nexperts from the natural and social sciences, we focused on three main topics: <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/canva-brown-reef-1024x602.png\")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Letter-cover.jpg\")
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The report of the meeting (below) provides policymakers and marine resource managers with information and recommendations to prepare for social and economic impacts of ocean acidification on coastal communities. It is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/cecilebrugere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Report-Cover.jpg\")
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