Protect oceans, the heart of Earth’s climate system
On Thursday and Friday, leaders from around the world will gather in San Francisco for the Global Climate Action Summit. They’re here to learn, share ideas and strengthen their commitments to fighting climate change, the greatest challenge facing humanity.
What makes this gathering unusual is that, for the first time, ocean issues are a top priority. The attention is overdue.
For too long the ocean — the heart of Earth’s climate system — has been ignored in climate conversations. To solve the climate crisis, we must address the health of the largest ecosystem on our planet, and our first line of defense against the impacts of climate change.
And we must act quickly. Sea levels are rising, placing tens of millions of coastal residents in harm’s way. Intensifying storms are costing human lives and causing billions of dollars in damage to homes and businesses. Around the world, people depend on the ocean for so much: food, jobs, transportation and stabilizing our climate. Now is the time to recognize that human health is directly tied to ocean health.
Climate change is already disrupting fundamental ocean processes that sustain life on Earth. Warming water is choking tropical corals and stunting kelp forest growth along the California coast. And carbon pollution is making seawater more acidic, dissolving the shells of plankton that are the foundation of ocean food webs.
Moving forward, the ocean must be front and center in the climate conversation. When we protect Earth’s blue heart, home to our planet’s greatest diversity of life, we safeguard ourselves.
The good news is that the ocean is resilient. It can recover.
At the summit, ocean leaders will issue a call to governments, industry and concerned citizens outlining what it will take to protect our living ocean. We must reverse the destruction of coastal habitats, create more global marine protected areas and improve the sustainability of global fisheries and aquaculture. We must help coastal communities prepare for, and adapt to, the growing impacts of extreme weather and sea level rise, and invest in science, which is the bedrock of sound decisionmaking.
Finally, and most importantly, we must redouble our commitment to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
By embracing this vision, we can ensure the ocean gets the attention, and the protection, it deserves. The lives of Earth’s 7.5 billion people depend on it.
As a California native, I couldn’t be prouder of my home state. California is advancing ambitious climate policies and moving toward zero emissions. Cities along our beautiful coast are factoring climate change into their land-use planning, building resilience for the challenges ahead.
California has the first-in-thenation, statewide network of marine protected areas. Innovators in the private sector are turning their creativity to climate solutions. Philanthropists are investing in science, and in sciencebased approaches that put us on a path toward sustainability.
At a moment when federal leadership on climate change has receded, the Global Climate Action Summit is proof that states and cities aren’t waiting for Washington, D.C., to lead.
We cannot wait any longer. We must all act as if our lives depended on it. Because they do.