The newly released Navigating the Future VI report highlights the pressing issue of saltwater intrusion into coastal freshwater systems. As the European Commission prioritizes water resilience, it is essential to recognize the crucial role of the Ocean in safeguarding water resources. By adopting an integrated approach to water management, policymakers can mitigate the impacts of climate change and ensure the long-term sustainability of coastal communities.
The ocean is under increasing pressure from human activities and is a key part of the solution to climate change. Recognizing this urgency, governments took a major step in 2019 at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) by officially integrating Ocean health into climate discussions.
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This newfound focus on the Ocean has been further fueled by high-level conferences like the Our Ocean series and the 2022 One Ocean Summit. Public awareness has also grown due to issues like plastic pollution, biodiversity loss, and rising sea levels.
Capitalizing on this momentum, the marine research community has a vital role to play. By highlighting Ocean challenges and proposing solutions, including ways to implement existing agreements, scientists can significantly contribute.
Navigating the Future VI, with its focus on relatable topics like people, freshwater, climate, and biodiversity, is a perfect tool for this purpose.
The European marine science community, as emphasized in the 2023 Vigo Declaration, is actively developing solutions and providing science-based policy advice at all levels of governance. This includes advancements in observation technologies, improved data analysis techniques using AI, and broader outreach efforts.
By making Ocean data accessible and understandable, scientists can empower policymakers and the public to make informed decisions for a healthier Ocean and a more sustainable future.
“We humans are heavily reliant on clean freshwater, but we still exert severe pressure on this crucial commodity. Global warming causes rising sea levels, which are pushing seawater further inland into rivers, wetlands and underground freshwater reserves, with negative effects on water quality. Moreover, human activities generate waste streams with cocktails of hazardous chemicals that enter the global water cycle, making their way from freshwater reservoirs to the Ocean. Freshwater and the Ocean are intimately connected and affect each other; we need to understand how in order to sustainably use both components of the global water cycle”, says Dr. Peter Kraal of NIOZ Sea Research, co-lead of the chapter on fresh water and the Ocean.
