FIJI is stepping up its push for stronger global climate action, warning that ocean acidification caused by excess carbon dioxide poses a growing threat to marine ecosystems, food security and the livelihoods of Pacific communities.
With the Pacific among the regions most exposed to the effects of ocean acidification despite contributing relatively little to the problem, Fiji is calling for the ocean to take centre stage at the upcoming United Nations climate conference, COP31, in Türkiye.
The call follows last week’s Pre-COP31 negotiators meeting in Nadi, where Pacific leaders pressed for stronger ocean outcomes, and comes as governments, scientists and financial institutions gather in Wellington, New Zealand, to advance regional action on the changing chemistry of the sea.
Permanent secretary for Environment and Climate Change Dr Sivendra Michael said ocean acidification reinforced the urgent need to reduce global emissions and protect the Pacific’s marine resources.
“Ocean acidification caused by excess CO2 further clarifies the critical need to deliver rapid emissions cuts and has always been part of Fiji’s rationale on the need to limit global average temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees,” he said.
“At the recent Pre-COP negotiators meeting in Nadi, we’ve called for strong ocean outcomes at COP31.”
He said Fiji wanted countries to incorporate ocean protection into their climate commitments and ensure funding was available to support national responses.
“We want to see a global commitment to integrating ocean mitigation and adaptation solutions into NDCs and NAPs and commitments that ensure climate finance mobilized under the UNFCCC supports national efforts to protect our oceans from climate harm.”
For Fiji, the issue extends beyond environmental protection.
The ocean provides food and income for communities, while healthy coral reefs help protect villages, coastlines and infrastructure from waves and storms.
Ocean acidification occurs when seawater absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, increasing its acidity and reducing the availability of carbonate needed by corals, shellfish and plankton to build their shells and skeletons.
The consequences are already a growing concern. Surface ocean acidity has increased by about 30 per cent since the Industrial Revolution, according to the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance).
Unlike temporary climate patterns, acidification is a continuing process that intensifies as carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere.
Its effects can also compound the damage caused by rising ocean temperatures.
While marine heatwaves and El Niño conditions can trigger coral bleaching, increasingly acidic waters make it more difficult for damaged reefs to rebuild.
OA Alliance executive director Jessie Turner said the ocean’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide came at a cost.
“The ocean has been quietly absorbing our excess carbon dioxide for a long time, and that service to the planet has a limit and a cost,” she said.
“We are now beginning to see increases in ocean acidification that should worry policymakers.
“As the ocean rises up the climate agenda, governments can no longer overlook this impact of carbon on global food security and on human health and wellbeing.”
The threat is particularly significant for Pacific Island countries, where fish provide between 50 and 90 per cent of the animal protein consumed by coastal communities.
Healthy coral reefs can also absorb up to 97 per cent of wave energy that would otherwise strike shorelines.
Regional assessments have identified coral reefs and food security as highly vulnerable to ocean acidification.
However, scientists say more location-specific research is needed to understand how different marine ecosystems and economically important species will respond.
University of Otago researcher Christina McGraw said regional science needed to inform decisions made by governments and communities.
“The impacts of acidification vary locally and threaten marine life of ecological, cultural, and economic importance here in the Pacific and around the world,” Ms McGraw said.
“It’s important that regional and local science is connecting back to communities and decision makers to help identify where the most effective adaptation strategies can be deployed and guided by local priorities.”
The Pacific has been building its response for more than a decade through regional partnerships involving the Pacific Community (SPC), the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and research institutions.
Established in 2014, the Pacific Partnership on Ocean Acidification helped identify monitoring sites and establish baseline information in Fiji, Tokelau and Vanuatu.
The program also supported community-led initiatives, including mangrove planting, coral restoration and locally managed marine areas.
Practical efforts are continuing across the region.
On Taveuni, a women’s group raised more than 2500 mangrove seedlings.
In Kiribati, a locally managed marine area is restoring coral, mangroves and seagrass, while a monitoring buoy in Palau tracks changes in seawater chemistry.
Financial institutions are also beginning to assess the risks.
The Asian Development Bank is conducting ocean acidification vulnerability assessments in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.
ADB representative Mary Kim said the work would help strengthen the evidence needed to guide regional planning.
“In response to ocean acidification’s significant environmental and economic risks, ADB has launched a study to assess the region’s exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity,” she said.
“The study will strengthen the evidence base, monitoring, and management, and help integrate ocean acidification into planning and decision-making.”
Fiji’s National Adaptation Plan already recognises ocean acidification as a climate risk, reflecting the country’s efforts to connect scientific evidence with domestic planning and international negotiations.
As COP31 approaches, the OA Alliance is urging governments to incorporate ocean acidification into their national climate commitments, report on ocean acidity under the Sustainable Development Goals and support funding for monitoring and regional cooperation.
The message from the Pacific is that protecting the ocean cannot be separated from tackling climate change.
For island communities whose food, livelihoods, culture and coastal protection depend on healthy marine ecosystems, the decisions made at COP31 could help determine whether global climate commitments translate into meaningful action beneath the waves.
