The ocean is not just a carbon sink

Next week, governments and civil-society organizations from around the world will gather in Nice, France, for the United Nations Ocean Conference.

- Wavel Ramkalawan

The timing is fitting, because changes in our oceans have become a familiar barometer for the severity of the climate crisis. Island populations, such as the inhabitants of the largest of Panama’s Cartí Islands, are being forced to abandon their homes in the face of rising sea levels. And many coastal communities, often some of the poorest in the world, are being ravaged by increasingly severe cyclones.

As the ones on the front line, small island developing states are also leading sources of climate innovation. We have become test beds for solutions that can guide action globally. From our perspective, the ocean is not just a symptom of a changing climate, but also a major part of the solution.

The High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (of which the Seychelles is a member) estimates that some 35% of the emissions reductions needed by 2050 could come from the ocean. Most of this potential lies in industri al sectors-from decarbonized shipping to marine-based renewable energy. But the protection and restoration of certain “blue carbon ecosystems” mangroves, seagrasses, salt-marshes can also measurably contribute to climate-change mitigation efforts.