Balancing Deep-Ocean Biodiversity, Carbon, Resources and Resilience in the Search for Climate Solutions

The deep ocean hosts extensive biodiversity that plays a critical role in the carbon cycle and in climate regulation.  Both pelagic and seafloor organisms function to transport, transform, deposit and sequester carbon.  Biodiversity and its climate regulation services are threatened by climate change, resource extraction, and some climate mitigation actions.    There is an urgent need to balance intersecting demands for deep ocean resources, associated ecosystem services, and conservation imperatives. This presentation will highlight the roles of the deep ocean and its biodiversity in the carbon cycle, for achieving 30x30, in renewable energy potential, in marine carbon dioxide removal, and other climate issues. Discussion will identify deep-ocean, biodiversity-positive actions for UNFCCC’s NDCs 3.0, climate-positive actions for the BBNJ Agreement and approaches for co-design across UN instruments and sectors to achieve sustainability and equitability in ocean climate action.