Defra boost for ocean acidification research: PML funded to become Secretariat for the UN-endorsed ‘OARS’ programme.

The ‘Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability’ (OARS) programme is designed to support the development of ocean acidification science.

As part of the High Level Event for Nature and People that is taking place at the UN General Assembly in New York, the UK Secretary of State Therese Coffey has announced £120k funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to support Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) becoming the secretariat for the Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability (OARS) programme.

Building on the work of GOA-ON (the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network), the OARS programme – which is part of the UN Ocean Decade – is designed to provide society with the evidence needed to not only identify and monitor ocean acidification, but also to mitigate and adapt to its impacts, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 14.3.1 and target 8 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The term ‘ocean acidification’ is used to describe the ongoing decrease in ocean pH caused by human CO₂ emissions, such as the burning of fossil fuels. Ocean acidification is already having an adverse effect on many important marine species such as corals, oysters, crabs and plankton. Furthermore, due to the unprecedented rate of acidification, these vulnerable organisms may not have time to evolve mechanisms to cope with the changing chemistry of the ocean.

As such, the OARS programme aims to:

• provide systematic evidence of the impacts of ocean acidification on the sustainability of marine ecosystems
• enhance ocean acidification capacity
• increase observations of ocean chemistry changes
• enhance the communication to policy-makers and communities by providing the information needed to mitigate and adapt to ocean acidification and;
• facilitate the development and evaluation of strategies to offset future impacts.