Webinar. Ocean Accounts as a Foundation for Climate Action: From Commitments to Implementation

The ocean is a vital component of the climate system, increasingly central to global climate policy as it faces severe impacts from human-induced climate change, including warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and sea-level rise—threatening marine biodiversity and coastal communities. Ocean-based solutions could close the emissions gap by up to 35% for a 1.5°C pathway and 47% for a 2°C pathway by 2050, making their inclusion in countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement essential. Despite this potential, the 2023 Global Stocktake revealed major gaps in ocean-climate action, prompting countries to enhance ocean-related strategies in their updated NDCs. Experts from the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership, UNSW Centre for Sustainable Development Reform, and the UNFCCC are supporting this integration through ocean accounts, which will be a key focus at the Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue during the UNFCCC’s 62nd Subsidiary Bodies meeting from 16–26 June 2025 in Bonn, Germany.