OCEANS DAY AT COP 15

Oceans Day at Copenhagen
The Importance of Oceans, Coasts, and Small Island Developing States in the Climate Regime

December 14, 2009
8:00 to 22:00
Venue: European Environment Agency, central Copenhagen
Attachment: Oceans Day Program

Oceans Day will feature interventions by key world leaders, including: H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, Indonesian Minister Dr. Fadel Muhammad, Grenada's UN Ambassador Dr. Dessima Williams, US NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco, UNEP's Executive Director Achim Steiner, Solomon Islands' Minister Lilo, Seychelles' UN Ambassador Ronald Jumeau, Mexico's Governor Ortega Bernes, World Bank's Environment Director Warren Evans, and other world leaders from all sectors and regions.

The Oceans Day is organized by the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands, the Government of Indonesia and the European Environment Agency and 46 other entities from around the world (UN agencies, national governments, NGOs, science groups).

The Oceans Day program is attached. Registration is already at capacity but spaces have been reserved for government delegates and media accredited to COP-15. See the Oceans Day website at http://www.ceoe.udel.edu/cmp/oceans_day/index.html.

The Oceans Day will highlight: 1) the central role of oceans in climate. Oceans generate oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide and regulate climate and temperature. Just as we cannot do without a healthy heart and lungs, the world cannot do without a healthy ocean; 2) the fact that the close to 50% of the human population that lives in coastal areas and the 44 small island countries that are especially dependent on the oceans are at the frontline of climate change. Coastal populations in 173 coastal countries will suffer disproportionate impacts from ocean warming, sea level rise, extreme weather events, and ocean acidification. Oceans Day at Copenhagen will urge the international community to:

Proceed with utmost caution to ensure the continuing functioning of the oceans in sustaining life on Earth by adopting the most stringent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions within a short time frame
Emphasize the positive contribution that oceans can play to mitigate global warming, for example, through ocean-based renewable energy (such as windpower), and through the use of natural carbon sinks in coastal areas, such as mangroves, kelp forests, and coral reefs
Begin immediately, and with sufficient financing, adaptation efforts in coastal communities and island nations in all regions of the world and prepare the public for the inevitable changes that will occur.


The Oceans Day venue, the European Environment Agency, is located in central Copenhagen at Kongens Nytorv 6, an easy metro ride from the Bella Center. To get from the Bella Center to the EEA, you can take the M1 metro line (station on Ørestads Boulevard), which stops at Kongens Nytorv Square.

For further information, please contact Ms. Caitlin Snyder at csnyder@udel.edu or +45 41242537.
For more information on Oceans Day 2009 visit: http://www.ceoe.udel.edu/cmp/oceans_day/index.html
For more information on the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands visit: http://www.globaloceans.org/
For media requests contact Lauren McCollough: laurenmcmo@gmail.com

See you at Oceans Day!

Partnership's Vision:
A fair, democratic and prosperous Indonesia built on sustainable good governance principles and practices.

Orginally from:
Dr. Biliana Cicin-Sain
Co-Chair and Head of Secretariat, Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands Director, Gerard J. Mangone Center for Marine Policy, University of Delaware bcs@udel.edu
Mobile: +1-202-329-4127***