In honour of the United Nations World Oceans Day, celebrated each year on 8 June, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) will organize a full day dedicated to the ocean and its link to the climate system. This event will lead up to the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21). The day will be opened by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, H.E. Laurent Fabius, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Lisa Emelia Svensson, Swedish Ambassador for the Oceans, Seas and Freshwater.

With the help of scientific workshops, plenary sessions, and exhibitions, this day will bring together scientists, political decision-makers, civil society and youth to identify, through dialogue, promising ocean-sensitive actions and strategies to mitigate climate change and its socioeconomic impacts.

At the end of the day, recommendations and a call for action will be presented to the heads of state and eminent personalities present on this occasion, including His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco; high representatives of small island states, namely H.E. Tommy E. Remengesau, President of Palau; H.E. Danny Faure, Vice-President of the Seychelles; and H.E. Freundel Stuart, Prime Minister of Barbados; as well as H.E. Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime affairs and Fisheries.

The messages will underline the ocean’s essential role for the survival of our planet and how crucial an “ambitious” climate agreement is to ensure ocean health, so that it may play its key role in the global climate system while providing potential solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Key recommendations from World Oceans Day will be transmitted to the negotiating parties, experts and observers attending the Bonn Climate Change Conference in June, in preparation of COP21.

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