{"id":659937,"date":"2026-10-28T20:48:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T20:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/659937\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T20:48:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T20:48:07","slug":"oceans-ability-to-absorb-carbon-is-weakening-as-climate-change-intensifies-un-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/659937\/","title":{"rendered":"Ocean\u2019s ability to absorb carbon is weakening as climate change intensifies, UN warns"},"content":{"rendered":"

The report was a collaboration between the UN\u2019s environment agency,\u00a0UNEP,<\/a> and the UN\u00a0climate\u00a0secretariat,\u00a0UNFCCC,<\/a> which co-organises COP31.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a long time the ocean has been doing us an enormous climate service, but that service is under increasing pressure,\u201d Sara Traerup, lead author of the report, told UN News.<\/p>\n

Rising temperatures and changes in ocean chemistry, circulation and ecosystems are weakening its ability to absorb and store carbon, leaving more CO\u2082 in the atmosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And this process \u201ccan definitely accelerate\u201d in the foreseeable future, Ms. Traerup warned.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bridging our knowledge gap\u00a0<\/p>\n

A major challenge is the lack of reliable ocean monitoring data, particularly in the Southern and Indian Oceans, the\u00a0Arctic and many coastal regions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The report therefore calls for stronger \u201cocean carbon intelligence\u201d \u2013 using science, technology, data and local knowledge to better understand and manage ocean carbon systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs of now, we don\u2019t have full information about the ocean, and what we don\u2019t know,\u00a0we\u00a0cannot manage and protect,\u201d Ms. Traerup explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From sensors to seagrass\u00a0<\/p>\n

UNEP<\/a> looked at three main types of ocean climate technologies, each offering different opportunities and risks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first is ocean monitoring: observation systems, sensors, data systems and modelling. Ms. Traerup called these the most mature technologies and the most immediately needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The second is blue carbon ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes. They already sequester around 407 million tonnes of CO\u2082 a year, and restoring them could add significantly more. They also protect coastlines, support biodiversity and sustain livelihoods.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The third is marine carbon dioxide removal, which aims to extract CO\u2082 from the atmosphere and store it over the long term. While potentially promising, these approaches remain highly uncertain and require further research, monitoring and regulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t treat ocean-based technologies as a shortcut,\u201d Ms. Traerup cautioned, as they must complement, not replace, emissions reductions and ecosystem protection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Islands leading the way\u00a0<\/p>\n

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) contribute less than one per cent of global emissions, yet are \u201con the front line of ocean and climate impacts,\u201d Ms. Traerup noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The report called for greater access to finance, technology transfer and capacity-building to enable these countries to develop ocean solutions tailored to their needs.\u00a0\u00a0Some islands are already showing how this can work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2015, Seychelles, for instance, benefited from a debt-for-nature swap, which involved restructuring part of its foreign debt in exchange for marine conservation commitments. This\u00a0enabled the country to set up a trust fund<\/a> to finance marine conservation, climate resilience and the sustainable blue economy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the Pacific, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu received support<\/a> to map seagrass meadows and mangrove forests, and measure how much carbon they store. As a result, more than 100 people\u00a0were trained in blue carbon assessment, giving\u00a0governments data to feed into their national climate plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The report also stressed the importance of integrating local and Indigenous knowledge.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunities have been coping with climate change for many, many years,\u201d Ms. Traerup said, pointing to their experience in protecting coastlines through natural habitats and in managing fisheries and coastal resources sustainably.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The report was a collaboration between the UN\u2019s environment agency,\u00a0UNEP, and the UN\u00a0climate\u00a0secretariat,\u00a0UNFCCC, which co-organises COP31.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cFor a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-659937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}