idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Between today and 21 November 2025, representatives from the international community will meet in Belém, northern Brazil, for the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) – at the place where the Amazon rainforest meets the ocean. Alongside international partner institutions, the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel will be present at the Ocean Pavilion once again. Prior to the conference, GEOMAR signed the Belém Ocean Declaration, which urges all nations to recognise the ocean's central role in climate policy and ensure its protection.
Belém is a symbolic location for COP30. Here, where the Amazon flows into the Atlantic, rainforest and ocean meet – two systems that store vast amounts of carbon and play key roles in the planet’s water and energy cycles: the twin pillars of planetary stability. “From the Forest to the Sea” is therefore also the guiding theme of the Ocean Pavilion at the conference.
Located in the so-called Blue Zone of COP30, the Pavilion highlights the central role of the ocean in the Earth’s climate system and showcases how marine research can contribute to global climate solutions. Led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, the Pavilion brings together more than a dozen renowned research and funding institutions – among them the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.
“The ocean is a key player in the climate system”
GEOMAR Director Prof. Dr Katja Matthes will represent the research centre at the conference. She says: “The ocean is a central player in the climate system – it stores most of the excess heat trapped by the greenhouse effect and absorbs about one third of the carbon dioxide we emit. This changes the ocean: it is becoming warmer and more acidic. That threatens marine ecosystems and, in many ways, our own livelihoods.”
The Belém Ocean Declaration: a shared call for ocean action
“We share one sky, one land, and one ocean” – with these words, the Belém Ocean Declaration opens its call to action. The declaration urges all nations to recognise the ocean as a key element of climate policy, to integrate it into national climate strategies and the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and to strengthen the protection of ocean ecosystems. It also emphasises that ocean-based solutions must be just, inclusive and nature-based – from the restoration of coastal ecosystems to the expansion of global observation systems.
GEOMAR Director Katja Matthes, who also serves on the board of the German Marine Research Alliance (DAM), has already signed the document. She stresses: “The fact that the ocean plays the key role in the climate system must be considered in all mitigation and adaptation strategies. COP30 offers an important opportunity to anchor this message even more firmly at the international level.”
Global cooperation for the ocean
Through its involvement in the Ocean Pavilion and the Belém Ocean Declaration, GEOMAR strengthens international collaboration for the protection and sustainable use of the ocean.
Prof. Dr Katja Matthes explains: “We have extensive expertise in ocean observation, climate processes and marine carbon storage. When scientific insights form the basis for political and societal decisions, they can help secure our life-support systems. Then the ocean becomes part of the solution.”
GEOMAR experts on site
• Prof. Dr Katja Matthes, Director
• Dr Toste Tanhua, Chemical Oceanographer
GEOMAR events (local time)
Friday, 14 November 2025, 09:00–10:00, Ocean Pavilion:
Research for sustainable ocean-based carbon dioxide removal
Monday, 17 November 2025, 10:30–11:30, Ocean Pavilion:
Co-designing research for sustainable ocean management in West Africa
Monday, 17 November 2025, 14:30–15:30, Planetary Science Pavilion:
Shaping our blue future: Integrative research to harness marine ecosystems for climate action around the world
Events with GEOMAR participation (local time)
Tuesday, 11 November 2025, 10:30–11:30, Ocean Pavilion:
The One Ocean Science Congress: Science at the UN Ocean Conference to make a difference (with Dr Toste Tanhua)
Wednesday, 12 November 2025, 17:00–18:15, Cryosphere Pavilion: Navigating Arctic Ocean Protection: Current Status and Future Directions (with Dr Toste Tanhua)
Saturday, 15 November 2025, 10:30–11:30, Ocean Pavilion:
Harnessing Ocean Monitoring Technology for Hazard Mitigation and Carbon Management (with Prof. Dr Katja Matthes)
Tuesday, 18 November 2025, 16:30–17:30, German Pavilion:
Scaling up marine nature conservation and climate solutions (with Prof. Dr Katja Matthes)
https://unfccc.int/cop30 COP30 – Overview and official information
https://oceanpavilion-cop.org Ocean Pavilion at COP30 – Programme, topics and partners
https://oceanpavilion-cop.org/belem-ocean-declaration-staged/ Belém Ocean Declaration – Full text
https://unfccc.int/cop30/pavilions Overview of pavilions and side events at COP30
Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
Journalisten
Biologie, Chemie, Gesellschaft, Meer / Klima, Umwelt / Ökologie
überregional
Wissenschaftliche Tagungen
Englisch
Sie können Suchbegriffe mit und, oder und / oder nicht verknüpfen, z. B. Philo nicht logie.
Verknüpfungen können Sie mit Klammern voneinander trennen, z. B. (Philo nicht logie) oder (Psycho und logie).
Zusammenhängende Worte werden als Wortgruppe gesucht, wenn Sie sie in Anführungsstriche setzen, z. B. „Bundesrepublik Deutschland“.
Die Erweiterte Suche können Sie auch nutzen, ohne Suchbegriffe einzugeben. Sie orientiert sich dann an den Kriterien, die Sie ausgewählt haben (z. B. nach dem Land oder dem Sachgebiet).
Haben Sie in einer Kategorie kein Kriterium ausgewählt, wird die gesamte Kategorie durchsucht (z.B. alle Sachgebiete oder alle Länder).
