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It makes no sense to hold climate talks without bringing up oceans
Officials from some 80 countries are negotiating the best ways to protect the oceans and to draw international support during the World Ocean Conference (WOC) in Manado, with leaders from six countries – Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands — to meet on the sidelines of the conference to agree on a plan of action to protect their coral reefs under the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) scheme
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Officials from some 80 countries are negotiating the best ways to protect the oceans and to draw international support during the World Ocean Conference (WOC) in Manado, with leaders from six countries – Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands — to meet on the sidelines of the conference to agree on a plan of action to protect their coral reefs under the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) scheme. The Jakarta Post’s Abdul Khalik talked Tuesday with US delegation member and the country’s leading coral reef expert Nancy Knowlton, who is also head of the Smithsonian’s Ocean Hall, on the importance of oceans and coral reefs in climate change. Below are the excerpts of the interview.
Question: How do you see the importance of the CTI for coral and ocean conservation?
JP/Arief Suhardiman
Answer: The CTI brings with it real financial commitment from a number of different countries. This is a substantial sum of money. From the US alone, it gets a commitment of US$40 million plus $750,000 that was just announced. Although having the money alone doesn’t solve the problems, a good idea must be supported with financial capability.
The fact that the six countries with the world’s richest coral reefs and ocean diversity got together showed they have the political will to protect and conserve their oceans. Millions of people depend on the coral reefs within the triangle, which generate a total revenue of $30 billion to the world annually. Indonesia alone gets $1.6 billion in income generation from its area each year.
What will be the impact to outsiders, such as the US, of conserving the coral triangle?
The US has territory close to the triangle, like Guam, for instance. But I have to say that if every country says that it is not my backyard, then the planet is doomed. We have to have a bigger picture that this is just one planet that we have, and that all of humanity is responsible for it.
Because the US is a developed country with financial resources, with President [Barack] Obama committed to saving the planet, it has to do something. Speaking as a US citizen, and not as a government representative, I’d like to think my government works to preserve the biodiversity of the planet.
What is the connection between climate change and the oceans and coral reefs?
Climate change is caused by carbon dioxide [CO2] being put up in the atmosphere. These emissions raise the temperature. As a third of the CO2 that goes up into the atmosphere winds up in the oceans, it gets acidic, threatening marine resources. Business as usual, by 2050 or 2100 at the latest, we will have no more coral reefs because of the rising acidity.
The amount of CO2 winding up in the oceans affect climate change because then the atmosphere gets less carbon and less heat. But it’s bad for the ocean because it is the carbon that increases the ocean’s acidity. So the ocean has profound impacts on climate change.
Do you think it is imperative that the ocean should be included in the UN climate talks in Copenhagen?
When you talk about climate change you have to remember that it’s not only land that is being affected by climate change, but oceans also. Unlike land, which doesn’t have to worry about acidity, the carbon really affects oceans in many ways.
For this reason alone, a decent climate change model must include oceans. To have a climate discussion without having ocean issues in it makes no sense at all to me.
What is your comment on the coral reefs in Bunaken?
The coral reefs there are extremely beautiful, some of the world’s best corals I’ve ever seen. What shocks me is that it cost me only $5 to enter the Bunaken Marine Park. It’s very cheap compared to its extreme beauty. How can the global value of coral reefs reach $30 billion a year while Indonesia, which has a third of the world’s coral, only gets $1.6 billion a year? My answer is your resources are worth more than you’re charging.
I think foreigners would be thrilled to pay more to get into Bunaken, especially if they know that a significant percentage of the amount goes to local people and the management of the park. There is no way that conservation programs can get done without involving local people. It’s extremely important that the locals benefit from a place like Bunaken.
