Description
Climate change already affects marine and coastal ecosystems and ecosystem services. Risk levels strongly depend on future rates of greenhouse gas emissions; yet even a global surface warming of between 1.5-2.0°C by the end of the century compared to pre-industrial levels, consistent with the Paris Agreement, will generate serious impacts on the ocean. There is thus urgent need for ambitious global mitigation and local adaptation, and for assessing the possible contribution of the ocean to the leeway for action.
The Ocean Solutions Initiative was launched to assess the potential of 13 ocean-based measures to reduce changes in three major climate-related drivers (ocean warming, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise) both globally and/or locally, as well as to reduce adverse impacts on vital climate-sensitive ecosystems (coral reefs, mangroves, salt marshes, seagrass beds, and Arctic biota) and ecosystem services (fin fisheries, fish aquaculture, coastal protection, and bivalve fisheries and aquaculture).