ABSTRACT
This chapter points out that, despite the many biophysical connections between oceans and climate, until very recently the oceans have been largely absent from international negotiations on combatting climate change. Where oceans are starting to find their way into international efforts to address climate change is in countries’ so-called nationally determined contributions – their action pledges – to the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. While the oceans regime is adaptive enough to incorporate considerations of climate change to some extent, this chapter argues that cumulative impacts of climate change expose the weaknesses of approaching the management of different forms of ocean pollution independently. There are opportunities to overcome this sectoral approach within both the oceans and climate regimes, but coordination is still lacking. Neither regime by itself is up to the task of effectively managing ocean challenges exacerbated by climate change, so ‘purposeful coordination’ will become increasingly necessary and urgent.
