So what do you think of
when you think of the ocean?
Maybe you think of a visit to the beach
or whales or sharks or coral reefs?
I think of this.
This is the San Juan Islands
in Washington state.
They jut out of an expanse
of deep dark water,
and they're filled with life
and mystery and opportunity.
But whatever you think of,
the ocean is much more.
It is a complex physical, chemical
and biological system
that takes up 70 percent of our planet.
And yet we're still really
just beginning to understand it.
What we do know
is that the ocean is a vital part
of our life support system on the planet.
It produces at least 50 percent
of the oxygen that we breathe.
So more than one in every two breaths.
It also regulates temperature
for the planet.
So without the ocean,
the poles would be unbearably cold
and the equator would be unbearably hot,
and it would be a lot harder to live here.
Now we think about saving the ocean
from plastic or from oil and oil spills
or from overfishing.
But really, we should be thinking
about how the ocean is saving us.
And what is it saving us from?
It's saving us from the climate change
that we are creating.
Essentially, ourselves.
And so what does that mean?
Basically, what we need to do is think
about not how to save the ocean,
but instead how the ocean
can actually help us
in this fight against climate change.
Already, the ocean is absorbing
25 to 30 percent of the CO2
that we release into the atmosphere.
It is the world's largest carbon sink.
The ocean has also absorbed
90 percent of the excess heat
trapped by greenhouse gases.
So it is basically helping
to keep the planet habitable,
at least for now.
And yet, when we think
about climate action
and climate strategies and climate plans,
we often overlook the ocean
and leave it out,
because somehow we think
that saving the ocean
is something else we have to do,
not a core part of our climate strategy.
And that's what has to change
because the ocean is a core part
of our climate system,
and so it has to be a core part
of our climate solutions.
So what does that actually mean?
Well, for starters, we know that the ocean
is already doing a lot for us.
So the first thing we do need to do
to save the ocean to save ourselves
is to actually reduce emissions.
I don't think anyone here
would disagree with that.
But that still sounds like the ocean
is a victim in the story,
and really the ocean can and should
be a hero in this story.
The ocean can provide us with solutions
to help us reduce those emissions,
and it can also help us to adapt
to this new climate reality
that we've created.
So how does that happen?
Well, essentially the first
thing we need to do
is to make sure that we keep
all of these systems working
and protect the systems
that are protecting us.
Because all of that CO2 and heat
that the ocean is absorbing
is actually coming at a cost.
The ocean is warming
and rising and acidifying,
and we even have evidence now
that we're changing
the basic circulation of the ocean,
which changes the way
it regulates temperature.
So the first thing we need to do
is really just protect those systems
that are protecting us.
But how do we more actively
engage the ocean
in our climate strategies?
What can we do to really use the ocean
to help us reduce emissions
and to adapt to the impacts
of climate change?
What does that practically look like?
Well, we know that coastal
ocean ecosystems
like mangroves or seagrasses
or salt marshes
are some of the most effective
carbon sinks on the planet.
Acre for acre, they can absorb 10 times
more carbon than a forest on land.
And that carbon is very deep in the soils
so that it can stay there
for thousands of years
if we leave it undisturbed.
The problem is that we’re not
leaving it undisturbed;
we are destroying these places.
We’ve lost 20 to 50 percent
of them already,
and we lose more every year.
And all of that is creating emissions.
But if we protect those places,
then those emissions stop.
Just like if you shut off
a coal-fired power plant.
And if we restore those places,
then we can actually absorb
even more carbon.
But the power of the ocean isn't limited
just to reducing emissions.
The ocean can also help us to adapt
to the impacts of climate change
we already feel
and that we know will be here
with us for decades.
Those same mangroves
can actually protect coastal communities
by buffering them against
more intense coastal storms
and slowing wind and waves.
Another example, oysters.
In New York City, they're using oysters
to help reduce the risk
of major floods and flood damage
like they saw during
Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
The idea is that these reefs
form dense places
that force water through nooks
and crannies that slow it down.
So by the time it hits the shore,
it actually has less power
and therefore can do less damage.
And at the same time,
they're creating aquatic parks
and places where people can gather
and be with nature.
Because the truth is that in this new
climate reality that we've created,
we will have to learn how to live
with water and with the ocean
in new ways.
And so what better ways to do that
than with the creatures
that actually have evolved
to live in these land and sea interfaces?
And these are real solutions
that are being implemented in real places
based on what we know about the ocean now.
And yet the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Association
of the United States
estimates that 80 percent
of the ocean is unmapped,
unexplored and unobserved.
So there is so much more out there
that we could be doing
and thinking about as climate solutions,
and so much that we're just
still getting our imaginations around.
For example,
what if we could actually
harness the power
of the ocean's wind and waves
and tides to produce power?
The International Energy Agency estimates
that offshore wind alone could produce
enough energy for the Earth
and 17 other planets, carbon-free.
And at the same time,
we could actually be providing power
to coastal communities and islands
that don't benefit from our
current grids and systems.
And if we're really smart about it,
we can plan and design these systems
so that we're creating artificial reefs
that could support wildlife
and aquaculture
and help us grow food and sequester carbon
and actually help the ocean
instead of harm it.
Or what if we could harness more
of the ocean's biological power
to help us in this fight
against climate change?
For example, kelp.
Kelp is one of the fastest-growing
organisms on the planet.
It can grow two feet per day.
What if we could actually restore
the world's kelp forests
and actually grow kelp at a scale
that we could use
all of that growing power
to help us sequester carbon?
Now, that's likely to be a lot cheaper
than trying to deploy
human-made technologies
out into the middle of the ocean
to sequester carbon.
And it's likely to be a lot less risky
than changing the ocean's chemistry
or engineering the ocean,
because we'd actually be working
with the natural systems
instead of against them.
And we'd probably have
a lot of kelp left over
that we could use to feed
ourselves and feed animals
and create plastic alternatives
that would also help us
to lower our footprint on the planet.
And this is just a sampler
of the types of solutions
that the ocean has to offer
for the climate crisis.
The key is that we have to think
about the ocean as a source of solutions
that we can be using
and enlist it in this fight.
And these aren't easy solutions.
The time for that has passed.
We don't have any easy solutions left.
And these aren't excuses
for not doing other things,
these are not silver bullets.
So we still have to do the hard work
of reducing and getting rid
of fossil fuels,
and we still have to do
the hard work of making sure
that the most vulnerable among us
will be able to adapt and thrive
in the new climate reality.
But the ocean is a powerful
source of solutions
that we've overlooked for far too long.
And so we need to think
about how we really integrate it
into our strategies now.
And that comes down
to a fundamental change in mindset,
which is instead of thinking
about how we save the ocean,
we should be thinking
about how we can help the ocean save us.
Thank you.
(Applause)