Colleagues,

The 28th annual UN Climate Change Conference–COP28–will kick off in Dubai tomorrow. COP28 is organized around 4 overarching themes: technology and innovation; inclusion; frontline communities; and finance. The conference provides an opportunity to emphasize the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels and to uplift #OceanClimateAction solutions while highlighting US ocean climate and justice goals. 

International ocean advocates will be focusing on:

• Advocating for the rapid and just phaseout of offshore oil and gas;

• Incorporating ocean solutions into the Global Stocktake–an inventory of climate action and support worldwide, identification of gaps, and agreement on solutions pathways (to 2030 and beyond);

• Promoting the “Ocean Breakthroughs” identified from the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action (marine conservation, aquatic food, ocean renewable energy, ocean-based transport and coastal tourism) and;

• Underscoring the urgent need for ocean finance, with the UN SDG14 (“to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”) remaining the least-funded Sustainable Development Goal, taking up a minuscule 0.01% of all SDG funding. 

Help us use this opportunity to amplify US leadership on ocean climate action! US ocean advocates can press for US leadership across a suite of ocean priorities. Given that the COP28 will be hosted by one of the world’s major oil producing nations, there is a critical need to push back on false solutions that prolong oil and gas development, and instead advocate strongly for the rapid and just phase out of fossil fuels and the implementation of ocean climate solutions.