Reflections on COP29

University team considers next steps in addressing the climate crisis
COP29 side event

Earlier this month, the University of Plymouth sent a team of experts to the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties – better known as COP29.
Our delegation was focused on making meaningful connections with both industry and country representatives, to drive research and innovation in critical areas supporting responsible use of the ocean. Our Director of Marine Business Development, Mr Kevin Forshaw shares his reflections on the event:

Despite controversy around some of the messaging at the start of this conference, COP remains the only forum to broker communication around one of the most pressing issues we face. We were there to present the leading University research that is underpinning the scientific evidence on which the frenetic political negotiation that took place there is based.

And we achieved this by engaging in sessions, networking, and sharing a stand with our partners Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), International Coastal and Ocean Organization (ICO) and the wider Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO).
Recognition of the vital importance of the ocean environment in any negotiation around climate change gradually seems to be increasing at COP. The ocean is absorbing much of the carbon and heat we produce from fossil fuel use, and our science is critical to increase understanding of the impact on the marine environment which produces over half of the oxygen we breath.
Other key topics included offshore renewable energy, and how the ocean provides us with valuable options in the future mix of clean energy security, and a need for more detailed understanding of any future carbon capture and storage from the sea at scale. 
There was also much discussion around marine plastics, and connections made at COP with Tanzania – both at Government and NGO level – have led to additional discussions with Professor Richard Thompson OBE FRS around his current work on the United Nations Plastics Treaty in Busan .
Useful conversations took place with our Government's Minister for Nature, Mary Creagh MP, who was present at the UK Pavilion, and it was also good to re-connect with representatives from the Maldives to discuss follow-on work around marine renewable resource characterisation, and make new connections with Malaysia and Kyrgyzstan – albeit accepting than any future engagements with Kyrgyzstan will be more terrestrially focused!
We are now building on connections made at this vital global event, and looking ahead to next year where we hope to further reinforce the importance of the marine environment, and our ongoing need to understand the vital role it plays in regulating the climate.

Kevin ForshawMr Kevin Forshaw
Director of Marine Business Development

Our contribution to the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29)

Bringing together representatives from 198 parties worldwide to unite around tangible climate action and deliver realistic solutions, the aim is to meet the Paris Agreement. This Agreement aims to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100 and to adapt to the existing effects of climate change.
Underwater environment beneath the ocean surface with seaweed and kelp beds