Welcome to the Oceans project notes. These will be edited over the course of Climate Deal Day. Stay tuned for more information as the day progresses. 

Key Questions:

What are the big deals that have occurred in oceans and water to date?

Can these deals be replicated, and if so, where, with whom, and how?

Where are ripe opportunities for new oceans and water deals?

On oceans, how can we help oceans get through the warming and acidification? Is it just about helping remove other stressors, lessening them, to give oceans more of a chance to survive and recover faster? What is happening with Mission Blue and other efforts to create more marine protected areas? What about consumer engagement with labeling of seafood? What about plastic and agricultural waste (nitrogen) pollution, what solutions are working there?

On freshwater, what is happening on quality and quantity? Is 'water neutrality' for corporates and other water users (you replace what you take) an important approach that can work? Can we link water and energy savings to drive mutual benefit, saving money and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and using less water? How can agriculture meet future needs with less water use, particularly in already vulnerable areas like Africa?

Who should we reach out to and involve going forward to help make new large-scale oceans and water deals happen?

 

 

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How can we get oceans through this warming and acidification? How can we protect coral reefs and critical tourism area. What are solutions that are working. 

Stan: we are looking for more organizations to buy into the deals. A workshop on how to create oceans related deals. Is there a way to create an "oceans grid" that would map the oceans to assign. You could take steps to ?

Aimee: Mission Blue. How can we save the oceans given that 80% of fish species are on decline. 

Figuring out how to map the oceans deals.

Aimee: how do we do the marine spacial planing. Where are the minimal species. How do we actually map the oceans in a way to best use the oceans.

 

Julian and Marco: They are integrating new systems with energy efficiency. They are also working on waste management and the waste of water. In terms of water...

 

Aimee: about integrating economic opportunities in coastal communities. How do we engage people in diversifying away. 

Kim Samuel-Johnson: She is very passionate about oceans. She thinks of the oceans "as the world's bank." A lot devoted to the importance of water. They are thinking of aggregating.  

oil platforms unsung opportunity to redeploy usage - whether for wind or other topics

oceans fisheries: science around marine conversation is the biggest deal - we need a climate map to map the oceans to

Deal:  1. marine spatial planning tools  -understanding what's where. and where are the priorities.

2. freshwater/ water - companies going water neutral - can other companies replicate this - like Coca Cola - to go water neutral. could water neutral be a collorary to carbon neutral

3. Agriculture has a huge impact on water quality and conservation.  ag is the biggest polluter of water quality in local communities.  biochar and acacia / ablida morenga trees that replace and clean water.

here's a deal - promoting planting of trees and borders in ag sectors to promote biodiversity and soil cleaning through trees/ nitro fixing.

natural solutions - tend to be lower cost

the win is multisectoral incomes - where you can earn income from carbon and biodiversity credits - markets for credits can create value for supporting these developments with real income sources, to restore degraded lands.

link between deforestation and water conservation 

case study - new york watershed restoration - cheaper and easier than retrofit.

permeable pavements - replacing old pavements with permeable pavements to reduce enviro and flooding impacts, and to help restore reservoirs.

15% of some state's electricity use is to pump water - so anything in buildings to reduce water efficiency and 

micro-aggregation of water - systems to reuse grey water - where is the incentive to save and reuse water ...

targeting cities with low water usage - vegas, melbourne, la to think of water saving and aggegation techniques...

 

London weighs in...
Another deal: there's a huge increase in desalination plants. Burning diesel fuel to desalinate water. The idea: create an financial incentive if have an A sticker rating. Maybe we need to work with Desertech or the EU on this. A cool climate deal: move desalination. That's thoroughly achievable.

Christian:
It doesn't bring in government, but it is powerful thing to do. Don't just produce something and label it, but create a dialogue with a company and the consumer. Eg a utility in Delhi started demand side management, and went into households to do audits, to help improve how they do things, then replicated it.
WWF drafted in the utility, that was skeptical at first. But it improved relations with customers. You turn energy users into climate activists.

Sandrine:
Could the same be said with water -- in Australia, they are not increasing tax on water but went to consumers and said, We have a problem, can we find a solution together so you don't have to pay more. They pushed more efficiency by households and kept price down. The water company got everyone, to participate. This can be replicated.
Melanie Salmon, trustee, Global Ocean:
We're looking at the problem of plastic bottles. We haven't focused on the energy side. We've started a campaign in the City of London, St Paul's

Manish Joshi, GCCA:
That's a great idea to move people away from bottled water. Trying to make it cool. You've got to work with organizations to make drinking water really uncool. How do you get that message out to people?

Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, The Prince of Wales's EU Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change and University of Cambridge's Programme for Sustainability Leadership in Brussels:
American Apparel is selling bottles with filters that my daughters wanted to buy = cool factor.

Manish:
Who is needed for this to work? Thames Water, local authorities, maybe celebrities like Jamie Oliver. I don't know if you could get supermarkets to get bottled water off their shelves.

Greg Lowe, AON:
Whenever you start losing revenue you will be challenged.

Jasper Sky, Oxford University:
Coca-Cola, Pepsi -- they could start selling tablets to make water taste better.

Sandrine:
They're already working on that.

Jasper:
That's a big business opportunity. I wonder if we could get someone to work on this.

Sandrine:
What about on the ocean side?

Melanie:
I was speaking about sharks with Dr Ritter in Switzerland. Another reason to protect sharks: the effect on the [ocean ecosystem] if they aren't protected.
We'd like to link the acidification issue to climate change.

Peter Boyd, Carbon War Room:
It depends on what your objective is -- sometimes words like climate change doesn't rally the masses.

Melanie:
The thing is that the ocean is our oxygen as well as Amazonia -- that message hasn't got through.

Jasper:
The two sources don’t have to be either/or.

Sandrine:
From a narrative perspective, Londoners are closer to the ocean than the Amazon. Use a two lungs element in communication rather than one lung. This really should be part of the narrative.

Manish:
Some of that has to come from science.

Greg:
That's a deal right there.

Peter:
We're working with a communications team in the States. The idea is exactly that. My analogy: Coca Cola has a central marketing team working out target audiences and what resonates -- a red can attracts females, black attracts males. They have a clear of who the target is and what they are trying to get across.
But at a decentralised level: When there was a problem with water quality in Pakistan, local PR is on the ground dealing with problem.
Contrast that with the climate change movement. In East Anglia we didn't have PR sorted…. The idea is you put in a marketing team that's as ruthless as Coca-Cola. Target the messages and work out what cooks.

Sandrine:
This conversation was held in Cancun, strategizing about what needs to happen in the US.

Peter:
Still working out who is involved.

Manish:
We have to get in the trenches, we can't be niche and polite.

Greg:
This will be an area that's harder to get business involved. This is an area for NGO.

Peter:
I don't think it's even an environmental NGO; they’re too soft.

Christian Teriete, GCCA:
But environmental NGOs can echo that message.

Sandrine:
And so can business.

[all: we have to do what the denialists are doing with use of media]

Jasper:
A few things are happening
* There's a climate science rapid response team: 3 climate scientists who invite journalists to ask questions, and they act as brokers. To make sure you get accurate info from experts.
* Make sure info is packaged slickly. Eg there's a website, which takes stock photos and puts voice-overs and rebuts climate denial  talking points. It has a lot of scope to do more. Eg a YouTube video shows why a paritcular climate denialist point being made is bullshit.
* We need a coalition of NGOs -- war veterans to serve as proponents of energy security, start with a feature film investigating the issue with scientists and then make a reality tv series of the little guy trying to make this happen, promoting an American energy independence movement. And then get legislators to speak on where they stand on issue.

Sandrine:
The Navy is starting and many groups working on climate security and defense issues.  Need to bring them in.  I can help facilitate contacts. On the science side the IPCC has hired a group of communication/media experts to help them on their narrative and avoid another Climate Gate etc…

Manish:
Fantastic. One thing we want to do is to turn climate change into an election issue. Where we have failed as NGOs…. Having a rapid response to disasters.

Melanie:
Mainstream media avoiding the topic. Got to be social media.

Jasper:
Let's make the story: every human should have access to affordable, clean energy. Clean energy dependence is the message. There's abundant clean energy in the US, but people don't know this. Building the super pool would pull us out of the recession.

Sandrine:
But these jobs won't replace those lost in coal.

Jasper:
Why not? Let's get the unions together… a totally doable thing that takes the fear away from coal workers.

Christian:
I want to add to the denial debate. It'd be great if we manage to ridicule some of the outlandish claims. But the danger is we get too engaged in the debate, that is we keep the doubt alive. I think there will be a sceptigate: in the US… Cata Institute (?)

Jasper:
I think we need a Michael Moore to make a film about that whole topic.

Sandrine:
The carbon heist… that carbon credits can be stolen could be the next climate gate or could be positive as it shows carbon has value!.

Manish:
We need someone else to do this. Spielberg.

Jasper:
Here's the story I put out: America has enough renewable energy to power itself [correct?] Should we do it with coal? No, will run out anyway. We should use the coal to make plastics, but power ourselves with sun and wind. Say: no, theirs is a higher purpose for coal for the longer term.
 

London continued...

Jasper:
Another deal: there's a huge increase in desalination plants. Burning diesel fuel to desalinate water. The idea: create an financial incentive if have an A sticker rating. Maybe we need to work with Desertech or the EU on this. A cool climate deal: move desalination. That's thoroughly achievable.

Christian:
It doesn't bring in government, but it is powerful thing to do. Don't just produce something and label it, but create a dialogue with a company and the consumer. Eg a utility in Delhi started demand side management, and went into households to do audits, to help improve how they do things, then replicated it.
WWF drafted in the utility, that was skeptical at first. But it improved relations with customers. You turn energy users into climate activists.

Sandrine:
Could the same be said with water -- in Australia, they are not increasing tax on water but went to consumers and said, We have a problem, can we find a solution together so you don't have to pay more. They pushed more efficiency by households and kept price down. The water company got everyone, to participate. This can be replicated.

Greg:
With utilities that works. We use energy brokers… with regulations. Whenever there is a third party in b2b deals there's more of a challenge.