USA & UK Join the OA Alliance!
The OA Alliance was honored to welcome two new national governments into the family: the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Both governments are leading the way, taking domestic and international actions that expand climate-ocean policy and financing for this work. We look forward to learning from these two climate-ocean leaders, as we seek deeper integration across climate, ocean and biodiversity commitments and advance actions that address climate change, support food security and sovereignty, and increase resilience of marine ecosystems, economies, and communities.
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, Mr. John Kerry made the announcement during the Conference Plenary:
“The ocean touches all of our lives. It is clear that greenhouse gas emissions are driving warming and acidification of our oceans, and the rate of pace is alarming. This has an impact on marine life that will affect every single person on the planet. So today, I am proud to announce that the United States will join the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification. We do this in addition to the many other actions we are taking to meet our target of 1.5 degrees and reduce our national greenhouse gas emissions. We cannot tackle OA without tackling the source: this means achieving a zero carbon or low carbon energy future as soon as possible.”
Further announcements were made by Dr. Richard Spinrad, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States.
U.S. NOAA has supported a domestic OA Program since 2011 and is leading work across federal agencies including through the U.S. Interagency Working Group on OA, which directly assists the government on matters related to ocean acidification monitoring, policy and investments. This includes coordination of federal interagency activities as outlined in U.S. Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act (FOARAM).
Mr. James Smith, Deputy Director for Marine Policy, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom delivered an announcement on behalf of the United Kingdom.
United Kingdom’s leadership on climate-ocean action and investment in OA monitoring has been displayed through the UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme, the Commonwealth Blue Charter, and across Plymouth Marine Laboratory which supports the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network’s NE Atlantic Hub.
Mr. James Smith, Deputy Director for Marine Policy, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom.
Dr. Richard Spinrad, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration