Netherlands Releases OA Action Plan

The Government of the Netherlands joined the OA Alliance at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco on September 13, 2018.  In keeping with the OA Alliance framework for action, the Netherlands has released their National Ocean Acidification Action Plan.

In advance of drafting the OA Action Plan, The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands requested the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) to prepare an overview of ocean acidification and its causes and consequences. The resulting publication “Causes and Consequences of Ocean Acidification with special emphasis on the Dutch territorial waters” was published in 2018.

A summary of main actions reflected in the national plan include: 

• Develop dialogue with knowledge partners

• Build and share national knowledge base

• Improve monitoring and data sharing

• Reduce GHG emissions with 49% by 2030

• Realize Good Environmental Status in national waters

• Reduce anthropogenic pressures on coral

• Improve ocean literacy

• Support international initiatives to raise awareness and mitigate impact

Underpinning the importance of the OA Action Plan, the Dutch Government writes, “The role of the oceans in the regulation of global climate and the importance and workings of the ocean as a regulator of atmospheric CO2 has increasingly become clear. With the recognition that the uptake of CO2 by the oceans is not only a blessing in terms of slowing global warming, but that this uptake is impacting the chemistry of the oceans in ways that may have major consequences for ecosystems and ocean productivity, ocean acidification is seen for what it is: a factor that not just contributes to a mix of stressors, but that in its own right already may seriously threaten human survival if not checked.”

You can download the full Ocean Acidification Action Plan of the Netherlands here!