Climate change represents a direct and existential threat to life in the oceans and seas worldwide. These are the conclusions of the European Council, which unanimously calls for ambitious efforts to protect the blue ecosystem.

The European Council's demands

The Council calls for strengthened political action at all levels of government to protect marine and coastal ecosystems, and notes with great concern that Europe's regional seas are warming at a rate above the average.

"Immediate action against the growing threats weighing on our oceans, our seas and our coastal areas" is necessary, the member states unanimously stated, and to that end the Council in its conclusions invited the European Commission to present strategic options in response to the alarming findings of the new special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on oceans and the cryosphere in the era of climate change.

Action priorities for protecting the seas

Eight calls for action from the European Council emerge from the concluding document:

1. sustainable use of marine resources
2. a sustainable blue economy and the role of economic sectors connected to oceans, seas and coasts, including fishing, maritime transport and offshore renewable energy
3. greater coordination on maritime security, including circumpolar cooperation in the meteorological and oceanographic fields
4. the protection of the Arctic, outermost regions and overseas countries and territories, given their particular vulnerability to climate change
5. the reduction of marine litter, including plastic waste and microplastics
6. ensuring healthy and resilient oceans
7. the protection of biodiversity in vulnerable marine and coastal ecosystems
8. the intensification of research and ocean sciences

The state of the oceans

According to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published this autumn, to date the oceans have absorbed more than 90 per cent of the excess heat present in the climate system. By 2100, the oceans will absorb 2 to 4 times more heat than between 1970 and today if global warming is limited to a temperature increase of 2°C, rising to 5 to 7 times more if the 2°C threshold is exceeded.

Marine heatwaves have doubled in frequency since 1982 and are increasing in intensity, with a further rise in frequency, duration, extent and intensity projected in the coming years. With a temperature increase of 2°C, their frequency will be 20 times higher than pre-industrial levels, rising to 50 times higher if emissions continue to grow.

Since the 1980s, the oceans have absorbed 20 to 30 per cent of human-induced carbon dioxide emissions, causing ocean acidification.

Warming and acidification, oxygen loss and changes in nutrient stocks are negatively affecting the distribution and abundance of marine life in coastal areas, the open ocean and on the seabed, with serious consequences for the entire ecosystem.