2023-12-12 (IPMA)
Dubai hosted this year the member countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for the 28th edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP). After two weeks of intense work and now that the negotiations have concluded, IPMA welcomes the agreement reached, marking "the beginning of the end of an era based on fossil fuel".
The connection between the ocean and climate has long been known to the scientific community, considering the ocean's role as a global climate regulator. However, it was only at COP25, known as the Blue COP, that, the ocean truly entered the climate political agenda. Another significant milestone was the publication of the report "The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate" by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2022.
IPMA, as a State Laboratory with fundamental functions in understanding and monitoring the ocean and atmosphere, collaborates with the national and international scientific community to deepen ocean knowledge and play a significant role in linking scientific knowledge to its use in supporting public policies.
In this context, IPMA participated in COP28 in Dubai with an agenda that deepened cooperation with its counterparts worldwide, strendthened ties with Portuguese-speaking countries, and promoted the ocean as the main climate regulator.
IPMA was the only Portuguese institution partnering in the organization of the Ocean Pavilion at COP28, a result of its longstanding collaboration with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), a world-renowned institution in ocean research.
It was this Pavilion that the international community focused on the relationship between the ocean and climate, and where Portugal and IPMA were promoted as knowledge agents for safeguarding society in the context of climate change.
José Guerreiro, President of the Board of Directors of IPMA, was a speaker on a panel organized by INCOIS - Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, a counterpart of IPMA in India, dedicated to the importance of ocean observation systems. He also participated in Mozambique's pavilion on a panel dedicated to coastal zone management. Fátima Abrantes, a senior researcher at IPMA in the field of paleoceanography, was part of a panel that focused on the important role of women in ocean science. There was also an opportunity to be present in other pavilions such as Portugal and Angola.
This was another step in promoting and asserting IPMA internationally, considering the crucial importance of establishing and deepening strategic partnerships based on scientific foundations. The ocean is singular, and its functions in the climate system are global. Yet, the ocean remains unknown. It is in the pursuit of increasing the knowledge about the ocean and its use in decision support that the IPMA team operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
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