Prospects and opportunities in a changing marine science and policy landscape

Prospects and opportunities in
a changing marine science and
policy landscape
Dr Luis Valdés
Head Ocean Sciences
Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission of UNESCO

Emerging issues since 2004... last ICES ASC in Spain:
Ocean Acidification peer review papers & authors per year

Emerging issues since 2004... last ICES ASC in Spain…
Science Language
Ocean acidification Governance
Microplastics Ocean Literacy
Blue carbon Human dimension
Dead zones Blue growth
.... ....

Emerging issues since 2004... last ICES ASC in Spain…
Science Language
Ocean acidification Governance
Microplastics Ocean Literacy
Blue carbon Human dimension
Dead zones Blue growth
.... ....
… a changing marine science and policy landscape

Outline
Prospects on marine sciences
The science-policy interface
Mapping the EU marine landscape
A World of Science?

Outline
Prospects on marine sciences
New scientific knowledge
Science for sustainability
Science and innovation

National Regional
USA UK
Global (NGO) Global (UN)

Valdés, L, L. Fonseca and K. Tedesco. 2010. Oceanography, 23: 160-175

Multiple stressors
Possible effects of combining different stressors:
Amplification, Compensation, Resilience

Core projects started since release of AGENDA 21
13
1992 2002 2012
Post-Rio?

Core projects started since release of AGENDA 21
Future earth
1992 2002 2012 14

11999922
From Rio 1992 to Rio+20
• UN Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED)
22000022 • World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)
22001122 • UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD)

Economy
SCIENCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Economy
Investing in new
opportunities,
innovation &
sustainable
activities
Investing in new
opportunities,
innovation &
sustainable
activities
Society
Society
Promoting well-being
& equal access to
services
& resources
Promoting well-being
& equal access to
services
& resources
Environment
Preserving ecosystems
and their potential
Environment
Preserving ecosystems
and their potential
Science
Science
Producing new
knowledge, common
understanding & an
integrated vision
Producing new
knowledge, common
understanding & an
integrated vision
Space equity
Space equity
Developing
Developing
geographical balance in
access & use of marine
geographical balance in
access & use of marine
resources
resources
Time equity
Time equity
Managing the means of
Managing the means of
subsistence for
subsistence for
inhabitants of today &
generations to come
inhabitants of today &
generations to come
Policy making
Policy making
Fostering good ocean governance
Fostering good ocean governance
BLUE SOCIETY
BLUE SOCIETY
Oceans of new opportunities for all
Oceans of new opportunities for all
No Science=
No Sustainability

Rio+20 Follow up
Document The Future we want
Substantial section on oceans with 20 paragraphs addressing:
18
Investigate climate change, sea level rise & coastal erosion.
Call for ocean acidification initiatives
Call for support in international cooperation for coral reefs
Call to scientific community to provide data to achieve
massive reduction of marine debris.
Commitment to implement measures on invasive species

Rio+20 Follow up
Substantial section on oceans with 20 paragraphs addressing:
Commitment to protect, restore health, productivity, resilience of the
ocean; to maintain the biodiversity, to enable sustainable use
19
Call for sustainable fisheries
Need for international cooperation in marine research & transfer
of technology according to IOC guidelines.
Call for full implementation of the World Ocean Assessment
Called for support for SIDS; implementation of Barbados
Programme of action & Mauritius strategy
BPO
A

Rio+20 Follow up
Decision on a set of global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Rio+20 launched an intergovernmental process to develop a set of SDGs,
building upon the Millennium Development Goals, following these principles:
• Contribute to the full implementation of the
outcomes of all major summits in the economic,
social and environmental fields
• Focus on priority areas in the Rio Outcome
document.
• Address in a balanced way all 3 SD dimensions
• Integrated into the United Nations development
agenda beyond 2015.
•To be approved by UNGA 69th session (2014)

Private sector Business
Genetic and
Pharmaceuticals

Marine Ren. Energy
Renewable energy from the sea could
one day enable the world to end its
reliance on fossil fuels.
One of the advantages of tidal, wave
and wind power is the predictability. If
an energy buyer wants a specific
amount of power in five years' time,
tidal movements, waves and winds can
be forecast accurately enough to
provide for a precise future
requirement.
The fact that the industry is at such an
early stage in its development and not
yet fully competitive (wave power is
now at the stage wind power was 20
years ago) means that investors have
an opportunity to buy into a fledgling
industry that is set to grow quickly over
the coming years.

Prospects and opportunities
In future, oceans will be continuously subject to natural and to human
pressures for change. Global warming is a fact confirmed by scientific evidence
and it will be, it is being, the central environmental concern of our times. More and
new research has to be done to fully understand and evaluate the impacts of
climate change in the oceans and to internationally cooperate to monitor the effects of
CC and Ocean acidification.
Societies are demanding from policymakers proactive positions towards respecting the
sustainable use and management of natural resources and mitigate the impacts
of global warming. Sustainable development will depend on our ability to
manage future ocean changes. In the next 10 years, social pressure will encourage
policymakers to reach agreements regarding limits on carbon emissions and set up
planetary boundaries for other anthropogenic impacts.
Future Earth (ICSU) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals are providing
the ground to establish some new large international research programmes
following the legacy of other past successful initiatives.
The blue economy/growth is underpinning in science and innovation. The
private sector needs to work closely with the marine scientific community to maximize
the opportunities.

Setting the scene (science)
Environmental Policy has been generally been driven by science
(e.g. side effects of pesticides, thinning of ozone, health effects of
mercury, CO2 for climate change).
Science is key to generating acceptance and legitimising policy
intervention.
Scientists feature among the voices more «trusted» by
citizens.
Environmental indicators and trends need to rest on solid
scientific evidence.
The entire policy cycle from ideas to policy implementation &
review must rest on a firm technical and (constantly evolving)
scientific base.

Setting the scene (policy)
Democracy depends upon the policymakers having the best
knowledge of the consequences of their decisions.
Research has shown that politicians are generally
scientifically illiterate and therefore have to depend upon
scientific expert committees to obtain this knowledge.
Membership of these committees is not democratic and this
introduces bias.
Over time, environment policies have evolved from being very
targeted to being more holistic which implies more
knowledge demands, in particular to characterise the added
complexities and uncertainties of integrated issues having
long term consequences.

Main Assessment reports
Europe

The field of knowledge is the common
property of all mankind, and any
discoveries we can make in it will be for
the benefit . . . of every other nation,
as well as our own.
Thomas Jefferson (1807)
Main Assessment reports
Europe

Scientific knowledge and policy interface
IPCC
IPBES
WOA
SOFIA
MSFD
Science-policy interfaces
Scientific
Programmes
(translating science into the advisory process)
Conventions
IOC
WMO
FAO
IMO
UNEP
EC-EU
GOOS, IOCCP
WCRP, IGBP,
DIVERSITAS
UNFCCC, CBD
LC, BALLAST,
OSPAR, MSFD

Scientific knowledge and policy interface
Example of Science-policy Architecture for Climate knowledge
via COP
SBSTA

Ocean Science meets Policy
IPCC report process: scientific driven
Criteria for best practice
• Scientific independence,
excellence and credibility
• Geographically balanced:
representation of the global
scientific community.
• Interdisciplinary knowledge and
information
• Transparency of the process(es).
• Good communication by scientists
about processes, strengths and
limitations of their work.
• Open, inclusive, including also
major civil society actors and the
private sector (participatory
approach) (?)

IPCC report process: scientific driven
AR5
The phisycal
science basis

There is a need for increasing translation of scientific knowledge on links
between ocean health, ecosystem services and human well-being into specific
policy action. However, there is a long time gap between scientific findings
and policy responses.
It is necessary to continue develop strategic interfaces (e.g. MSFD, WOA,
IPBES, IPCC) to strengthening science-policy links among organisations (e.g.
IOC, FAO, WMO, EC, etc.) and Convention/multilateral
environmental/sustainable development agreements (e.g. CBD, UNFCCC) at
the regional and global levels.
It is a must to follow “best practice” to ensure high quality, independent,
policy relevant, and “geo-politically” legitimate scientific information and
advice.

Periodic Table of the European Marine/Maritime Elements
Ar Ices Cies Bsc
Af Mf As At
Os He Ba Bc
MseMyoGes Mar Bef Cor Eco Euo Efa
EMSEA MYOCEAN GMES MARS MARBEF CORIOLIS EMECO EUROCEAN EFARO
Wise Vos Odr Eng Clu Meg Og Sp Fish
WISE Vol ob ship ECORD OCE ENERGY ENMC EMEC OGP CMASV RACS
Cr Gb Bd Hd Oo Geo Oc Sl Hab
Msp Acc Bg Bs Re Msf Imp
EU EU EU EU EU EU EU
Ms Bw Wf Ha Na Cfp
EU EU EU EU EU EU EU
Los Ccc Lp Bw Cb St Ci
UNCLOS UNFCCC LC/LP BALLAST CBD STOCKOLM CITES
Esf
Mb
Erc
Era
Cbd Fao Iaea Imo Isa De Do Dp Ep Ioc Ido WmoWb Iho Oec Ge UN
Icsu Iucn Po Idi Won Mcf SeaWwf Ps Gp Ci PewSca Sco Gof Gef Gpo
© Valdes. L., 2013
EU Marine International Scientific Councils
EU Regional Fisheries Organizations
EU Regional Conventions
UN conventions and treaties
EU legal framework on marine/maritime affairs
Think tankers
European specialized agencies
European Marine Scientific Clusters
European Maritime Clusters
Databases
International Programmes (IPO in Europe)
Funding instruments
Reporting Processes
UN specialized agencies with marine/maritime mandate
Other marine International Organizations in Europe
Main Marine/Maritime NGOs in Europe
Other main International NGOs
UN Funding instruments
GESAMP UN-OCEANS
GEF WB-GOP
UNESCO-IOC UNIDO WMO WB IHO OECD
GREENPEACE CI PEW SCAR SCOR GOF
CBD FAO IAEA IMO ISA UN-DESA DOALOS UNDP UNEP
ICSU IUCN POGO IDDRI WON MCF SEAS AT RISK WWF PLAST SOUP
ARCIC ICES CIESM BLACK
NEAFC GFCM NASCO ICCAT
OSPAR HELCOM BARC BUCA
ESF
MB
ERC
EEA
EMSA
JPI
DRAEGER
PRINCE
CALOUSTE
EFCA
JRC
ERA
ESA
WCRP IGBP DIVERSITAS IHDP GOOS GEO-GEOSS IOCCP GLOSS HAB
EMODNET PSMSL OBIS IODE ICES IPCC SOFIA IPBES WOA FP7 OCEAN TOMHORIZON 2020 NSF-MS
Jpi
Df
Pa
Gul
Eea
Msa
Fc
Jrc
Esa
Enet Sl ObisIode Ices Cc Fa Bs Woa Fp Ot H20 Nsf
OSPAR SR HELCOM MSFD NAt Bal EuW

41
TODAY FUTURE
The EU as a key player in Ocean Governance:
 Joint directions towards an integrated maritime policy/marine strategy
 Enhance communication between the clusters to ensure a broad ecosystem focus
 Combine marine and maritime interests for a better development of coastal regions
 Prepare ourselves to use the science policy landscape in our own benefit as a
vehicle to reinforce and add value to marine scientific research and to facilitate the
transfer of knowledge and technology to third parties

Science today - transfer of knowledge?
Citation map of the world where the area of each country is scaled and deformed according to
the number of citations received, which is also indicated by the color of each country
43
Pan et al., 2012. Nature/scientific reports, 2: 902, DOI: 10.1038

GLOBAL OOCCEEAANN SSCCIIEENNCCEE RREEPPOORRTT
FEASIBILITY & DEMAND SHOWN
BY:
National activities, e.g. Canada
& Belgium (2013)

GLOBAL OOCCEEAANN SSCCIIEENNCCEE RREEPPOORRTT

Science today - transfer of knowledge?
Citation map of the world where the area of each country is scaled and deformed according to
the number of citations received, which is also indicated by the color of each country
49
Pan et al., 2012. Nature/scientific reports, 2: 902, DOI: 10.1038

…Protect our Oceans…together
¡Thank you!
www.ioc-unesco.org

Principles of Scientific assessments
(e.g. IPCC, WOA, IPBES, MSFD)
• Establish the current knowledge on a given problem and its future
risks; most include assessments of options for action.
• Need to be repeated or updated periodically (concerns about time
lags)
• Based on interdisciplinary scientific research and knowledge
• Participatory approach

Problems we face – barriers to break down
• Conflicting priorities and
policies,
• Lack of monitoring and
coordinated reporting
• Capacity gaps between
developed and developing
countries
• Limited educational, training
and technical capacity and
financial resources
• Ineffective enforcement of
obligations
 Much related to perception that full implementation
requires trade offs among pillars of sustainability

Government vs governance: A paradigm shift
GOVERNMENT
Administration
Society
Hierarchical
relationship
GOVERNANCE
Plurality of actors
Public & private
organizations
Integrative and
Interdependent relationships

Setting the scene
Jones N., H. Jones and C. Walsh. 2008. Political Science? Strengthening science–policy dialogue in
developing countries. Overseas Development Institute, Working Paper 294 (ISBN 978 0 85003 878 1)

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