Brazil and France launch the "Blue NDC Challenge" to place the ocean at the center of global climate action ahead of COP30

The governments of Brazil and France launched the Blue NDC Challenge on Monday during the United Nations Ocean Summit (UNOC3) in Nice, France. This is an international initiative that seeks to place the ocean at the heart of countries' climate commitments, in the run-up to the COP30 climate summit to be held in Belém, Brazil, in November.

Eight other nations—Australia, Fiji, Kenya, Mexico, Palau, and the Seychelles among them—have already committed to including ocean solutions in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.

“For Brazil, this challenge represents a key opportunity to strengthen ocean-related climate action,” said Brazilian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva, emphasizing that her country has included ocean measures in its recently submitted NDC for the first time.

Oceans as a climate axis

The Blue NDC Challenge underscores the urgency of recognizing the ocean's central role as an ally in the fight against the climate crisis, its proponents emphasized. The initiative is supported by Ocean Conservancy, Ocean & Climate Platform, World Resources Institute, and WWF-Brazil, among others.

Restoration of coastal ecosystems, marine spatial planning, the phasing out of fossil fuels in the sea, the expansion of clean ocean energy (such as offshore wind and wave energy), and the promotion of sustainable and climate-resilient fishing and aquaculture are some of the measures that participating countries may include.

“Marine ecosystems are underutilized tools in the face of climate change,” said Wavel Ramkalawan, President of Seychelles, one of the founding countries of the Challenge.

Commitments and cooperation

"Our country has included actions such as mangrove and reef restoration, strengthening coastal management, and implementing marine spatial planning," said Marina Silva.

The initiative is conceived as a platform for international cooperation to share knowledge, mobilize funding, and scale ocean-based climate solutions.

“The Blue NDC Challenge is like transforming the ambition of Paris into concrete action in Belém,” said Loreley Picourt, Executive Director of Ocean & Climate Platform.

Financing

The Challenge provides technical and financial support from partners such as the NDC Partnership, the Ocean Breakthroughs led by the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, and the UN High-Level Climate Champions.

“Ocean solutions can provide up to 35% of the emissions reductions needed to meet the 1.5°C target,” stressed Tom Pickerell, global director of the Ocean Program at the World Resources Institute.

Ocean Conservancy Executive Director Janis Searles Jones applauded Brazil's leadership and noted that the ocean "already stabilizes the climate, but it has even greater potential if marine actions are included in national plans."