By RISE UP
At the June 2026 UN Climate Meetings in Bonn, also known as SB64, governments, experts, civil society and observers gathered for the 2026 Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue. Convened under the UNFCCC process, the Dialogue created space to look more closely at how the ocean is being reflected in climate action, particularly through national climate plans, implementation support and stronger links between climate, biodiversity and ocean governance.
The Dialogue reaffirmed something that ocean advocates have been saying for years: the ocean is not separate from the climate crisis. It is central to how the planet regulates heat, stores carbon, supports biodiversity, feeds communities, protects coastlines and sustains livelihoods. Yet, despite this, the ocean is still too often treated as an add-on in climate policy rather than a core part of climate action.
Across the discussions, a shared message was repeated: the ocean is already shaping the climate response, but the systems meant to support that response have not fully caught up. Countries are increasingly recognizing ocean priorities in their Nationally Determined Contributions, National Adaptation Plans and broader climate strategies. Coastal adaptation, marine protection, blue carbon ecosystems, sustainable fisheries, early warning systems, ocean observation and ecosystem restoration are all becoming part of the climate conversation. This is important progress, but it also raises a bigger question: how do we move from recognizing the ocean’s role to actually delivering ocean-climate action?
That question sat at the heart of the Dialogue. For many coastal and island states, ocean-climate action is not theoretical. It is tied to sea-level rise, coastal erosion, coral bleaching, ocean warming, changing fisheries, extreme weather and the protection of communities whose lives and economies depend on healthy marine ecosystems. It is also tied to culture, identity, food security, mobility and survival. When these countries call for stronger ocean action, they are not asking for a new theme to be added to climate negotiations. They are asking for climate policy to reflect the realities they are already living.
This is why implementation became such a central thread throughout the discussions. Many countries have already identified ocean priorities in their climate plans, but turning those priorities into action requires more than ambition. It requires accessible finance, technical capacity, data, technology transfer, institutional coordination and long-term support. Without this, ocean-climate commitments risk remaining strong on paper but weak in practice.
Finance remains one of the clearest barriers. Many ocean-climate actions, particularly in Small Island Developing States and coastal developing countries, are conditional on international support. Yet funding is often difficult to access, fragmented or poorly matched to local realities. Communities and governments need finance that is predictable, flexible and designed for implementation, not just announcements. They need support for community-led projects, long-term monitoring, data systems, coastal resilience and locally grounded adaptation. If the ocean is to be taken seriously in climate action, then ocean finance must also be taken seriously.
The Dialogue also made clear that ocean-climate action cannot be designed only through technical or economic lenses. For Indigenous Peoples, coastal communities, fishers, women, youth and frontline groups, the ocean is not simply a resource or a project site. It is home, history, culture, livelihood and responsibility across generations. As interest grows in ocean-based climate solutions and the blue economy, questions of participation, rights, benefit-sharing and decision-making power become even more important. The climate movement must ensure that ocean action does not reproduce the same extractive and top-down approaches that have too often harmed communities and ecosystems.
This is especially important as the world navigates the energy transition. Moving away from fossil fuels is essential, but the transition must not create new pressures at sea or shift harm from one place to another. Ocean spaces are becoming increasingly important in discussions on renewable energy, infrastructure, transport, conservation and climate resilience. The Dialogue reinforced the need for transition pathways that are guided by precaution, transparency, accountability, ecosystem protection and community participation. A just transition must protect the ocean, not treat it as the next frontier for unchecked development.
Another strong message from the Dialogue was the need to connect climate, biodiversity and ocean governance. These issues are often discussed in separate processes, but they are deeply connected in practice. Healthy marine ecosystems strengthen adaptation. Biodiversity protection supports resilience. Sustainable fisheries contribute to food security. Coastal restoration can protect communities from climate impacts. Rights-based ocean governance can make climate action more durable and just.
The challenge now is to ensure that the connections raised through the Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue are reflected more consistently across the wider UNFCCC process, rather than remaining concentrated in one dedicated space. Climate, biodiversity and ocean governance are deeply linked in practice, and those links need to be carried into the decisions, finance discussions, work programmes and national implementation pathways that shape climate action.
The road to COP31 offers an important opportunity to carry these messages forward. In June 2026, more than 150 ocean and climate leaders released an open letter calling on COP31 leaders to place the ocean at the heart of climate action. The letter was addressed to incoming COP31 hosts Türkiye and Australia, the COP30 Presidency and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, and calls for COP31 to become a ‘true Blue COP’.
This letter matters because it helps translate the priorities raised in the Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue into a broader political pathway. It calls for the ocean to be reflected not only in side events or dedicated ocean spaces, but across the main political, negotiation and implementation areas of the UNFCCC. That means bringing ocean-climate solutions into the World Leaders Summit, the Action Agenda, ministerial discussions, negotiation texts, finance outcomes and relevant UNFCCC workstreams.
In other words, the ocean cannot remain a theme that is acknowledged in speeches but left out of decisions. If COP31 is to be a true Blue COP, ocean action must be treated as a cross-cutting priority for mitigation, adaptation, resilience, biodiversity, food systems, finance and justice. It also means making sure that the outcomes of the Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue are not left behind in Bonn, but carried forward into the decisions and commitments that shape global climate action.
The Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue helped name the priorities. The COP31 letter points toward the political opportunity ahead. Together, they send a clear message: the ocean must move from recognition to implementation, and from dialogue to decision-making power.
The ocean has carried the weight of the climate crisis for generations. It has absorbed heat, buffered impacts and sustained life across the planet. Now climate action must protect the ocean in return. On the road to COP31, the task is not only to speak about the ocean more often, but to ensure that ocean-climate action is funded, fair, community-centred and embedded at the heart of global climate decision-making.