Chile, UK, and Madagascar Join the Blue NDC Challenge at NYC Climate Week

Ocean at the Center of Climate Action

Today, at a ministerial-level New York City Climate Week event, Chile, the UK, and Madagascar committed to the Blue NDC Challenge, outrightly embodying both the economic and environmental value of protecting the ocean.

The initiative urges coastal nations to integrate ocean-focused actions into their climate plans, nationally determined contributions (NDCs), ahead of COP30.

“The ocean was part of our first NDC, and the second round is an opportunity to consolidate the role of the ocean in our climate policies,” said Julio Cordano, Director of Environment, Climate Change, and Oceans at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile.

“Our perspective covers both adaptation and mitigation, associated with the conservation measures that include climate co-benefits of Marine Protected Areas. Nature-based solutions are central in this regard, considering synergies with other processes like the CBD and the 30×30 target,” he added.

Expanding the Blue NDC Network

With these new members, the Blue NDC Challenge now counts 11 countries, joining leaders including Brazil, France, Australia, Fiji, Kenya, Mexico, Palau, and the Republic of Seychelles.

Brazil and France launched the initiative alongside the inaugural members at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, this past June. Brazil will also be hosting COP30 in November. The initiative is supported by Ocean Conservancy, the Ocean & Climate Platform, and the World Resources Institute.

COP30 Executive Director Ana Toni, highlighting Brazil’s leadership, pointed out how the country changed that by bringing ocean solutions to the core of our recently announced NDC.

“We know that oceans have been badly represented at COPs and in the debate about ocean solutions in all our NDCs. We do recognize the very important role that oceans and, obviously, coastal zones and the people that depend upon the oceans represent for the solutions to climate change. So having this challenge, and having more NDCs now putting oceans at the center, is really important,” she added.

A Trove of Climate Solutions

Notably, studies have indicated that ocean-based climate solutions can deliver up to 35% of the emissions reductions needed to keep global temperatures from spiking.

Hence, through signing on to the Blue NDC Challenge, countries are showing a commitment to integrating the ocean into their national climate strategies or implementation plans. Examples include:

sustainably managing, conserving, and restoring coastal and marine ecosystems;
phasing out offshore oil and gas production;
expanding clean ocean energy such as offshore wind, wave, and tidal power;
cutting emissions and strengthening resilience in maritime sectors, including shipping and seafood industries; and
supporting sustainable, climate-resilient fisheries and aquaculture.

According to Janis Searles Jones, CEO of Ocean Conservancy, the ocean is our unsung resource hero, and it’s encouraging to see so many countries recognize its vast, untapped potential to help stabilize our climate.

Searles elaborates how the ocean offers a trove of solutions, from offshore wind to green shipping to restoring ecosystems, that countries can implement today to reach their national climate targets.

“Now is the time for more countries to join this historic initiative and recognize that the ocean is a powerful and essential ally in our efforts to tackle the climate crisis,” added Janis.

From Ambition to Implementation

The Blue NDC Challenge is part of a broader effort spearheaded by Brazil to ensure the ocean is essentially considered and looks to play a central role in the upcoming climate talks in Belém, Brazil.

It’s important to overstand that in addition to absorbing excess heat, the ocean has reportedly absorbed close to 30% of the annual CO2 emissions from human activities since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

Loreley Picourt, Executive Director of the Ocean & Climate Platform, stressed the importance of concrete action, calling upon the Blue NDC Challenge ensure the ocean is more than a backdrop, rather a driver of climate action.

“Action is the only way we move from ambition to implementation and make COP30 the turning point the Planet truly needs.”

Boosting Partnerships and Investment

Governments that join the Challenge will receive support from a wide range of partners and initiatives, including the NDC Partnership hosted by World Resources Institute, as well as the Ocean Breakthroughs, co-led by the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action and the UN High-Level Climate Champions.

Together, they aim to boost investment and action in ocean-based solutions to help achieve a net-zero, resilient, and nature-positive future by 2050.

Tom Pickerell, Global Director of the Ocean Program at the World Resources Institute and Head of the Secretariat for the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, reinforced this urgency, lauding the Blue NDC Challenge for making oceans central to meeting climate goals and a deliverer of benefits to people and nature.

Pickerell would remark that the ocean is the world’s greatest ally in the fight against climate change, but only if we put it at the heart of climate action.

“At New York City Climate Week, we want to see more nations step forward and commit to ocean-based action, turning the ambition we saw at UNOC into implementation ahead of COP30,” urged Tom.