The Scientific Centre of Monaco is heading to the upcoming COP27 in Egypt for talks on ocean protection as well as the role of the world’s “blue zone” in regulating the global climate.  

Held in Sharm el-Sheikh from 6th to 18th November, the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) is being held at a crucial moment in time for positive climate change action. While reducing humankind’s impact on climate change on land has traditionally been the main focus for action, the role of the oceans is coming to the fore as an important element in climate regulation.  

This growing awareness is reflected by the prominence of a “blue zone” at the COP27’s central site. Within this zone, which is reserved for national delegations, UN organisations and NGO observers, will be the Pavilion of the Ocean. It is there that Monaco’s influence – and that of the Scientific Centre of Monaco (CSM) – will be found.  

The CSM will be represented by Dr Nathalie Hilmi, a member of the centre’s environmental economics department and the author of a recent report put out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that focused on the world’s oceans and cryosphere in the context of climate change.  

“Blue carbon and other marine biological processes are part of the solution to the ecological and socio-economic impacts of climate change related to the climate in the ocean,” says Dr Hilmi.  

The pavilion, organised by a group of international research institutions including the CSM, the WHOI, the SCRIPPS Institution of Oceanography, the CNRS, Ifremer and UNESCO, aims to bring the vital role played by the oceans in regulating the Earth’s climate to a global audience. 

Photo source: Willian Justen de Vasconcellos for Unsplash