The ocean can be our best bet vs climate change. It’s finally at the heart of COP31.

MANILA, Philippines – World leaders, lobbyists, and advocates are coming together in Antalya, Turkey, for the annual United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP31), which is being pegged as the “Blue COP” for its focus on the ocean.

Turkey is leading this year’s climate negotiations with Australia, pushing forward the concerns of Pacific Island countries vulnerable to rising seas, ocean warming, and acidification. Ocean action is also among Turkey’s top priorities, with the goal of “enhancing the climate resilience of coastal and marine ecosystems.”

Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen, the president of negotiations at COP31, called the ocean “nature’s greatest climate regulator.”

“COP31 is an opportunity to show what cooperation can deliver at this crucial time for both our climate and global energy security,” Bowen said in a statement Thursday, November 5.

“It will be about unlocking finance and investment, cheaper energy for households, accelerating electrification, and boosting action on the ocean, nature’s greatest climate regulator.”

The UN, meanwhile, called the ocean “the world’s greatest ally against climate change,” a great stabilizer of the Earth’s climate, but one that is suffering damage because of hotter global temperatures.

This year’s COP will also focus heavily on electrification — a response to the fuel supply shock and global energy crisis that upended economies. UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell took note that the summit “takes place against the backdrop of an ongoing fossil fuel cost crisis, which has sent energy and transport costs spiraling.”

A vast gap in climate talks

The ocean covers more than 70% of the world. It works as a buffer against the worst impacts of climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide emissions and heat from the atmosphere. Yet it has been historically absent in the climate negotiations.

Only in recent years has there been a growing momentum to actively integrate the ocean into climate talks.

Ocean-based actions can close the emissions gap — or help countries close the gap between their declared climate targets and the amount of emissions they are actually reducing — by up to 35%.

These “ocean-based actions” can take various forms: restoring marine ecosystems such as mangroves and seagrass beds, phasing out offshore oil and gas production, or cutting down emissions of maritime industries like shipping, coastal tourism, and aquatic food production.

Marine Lecerf, head of international policy at Ocean & Climate Platform, noted that the ocean was only first explicitly mentioned in the preamble of the Paris Agreement in 2015. This was followed by a mention of the ocean in a COP decision during COP25 in Madrid, where the Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue was also established.

In 2025, Brazil and France launched a global initiative called the “Blue NDC Challenge,” urging parties to the Paris Agreement to keep in mind the ocean when they update their climate commitments. (READ: 2026 NDC: Philippines promises to reduce more carbon emissions on its own)

“For too long, the ocean has been viewed primarily as a victim of climate change, rather than as a powerful part of the solution,” Lecerf told Rappler in an email. “It has also too often been treated as a separate agenda, when in fact it is central to delivering on countries’ broader climate and development priorities.”

Lecerf said the ocean is integral to energy transition and food security, adding that “the challenge now is to fully recognize and harness this potential.”

Other organizations holding significant influence in climate and environment discourse are also backing this ocean current at COP31.

“A stable climate depends on a healthy ocean,” the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said in a paper, released in August, that outlines the organization’s expectations at COP31 for action. 

“COP31 should move ocean action from recognition to implementation by establishing it as a core delivery pathway for achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement,” WWF said. This includes, among others, making funding available for countries and communities who need it.

What this means for the Philippines

The Philippines is bound by the Philippine Sea, the West Philippine Sea, Celebes Sea, and the Sulu Sea. These waters provide livelihood, home, and transport routes to many Filipinos.

“From the Philippine perspective, the significance of an oceans-focused COP31 is immense,” John Leo Algo, a Filipino climate activist who has been present at many climate summits, told Rappler.

Algo said millions of fisherfolk are at the brunt of the climate crisis, facing the consequences of warmer waters and lower fish catch.

“Food systems and ecosystems alike will be highly exposed to the extreme heat and vulnerable to adverse impacts in at least the next few months,” said Algo.

According to Philippine Environment Undersecretary Analiza Rebuelta-Teh, who is part of the Philippine delegation in Turkey, the Philippines will be supportive of the ocean agenda.

“That is why we have included BMB (Biodiversity Management Bureau) in the delegation to monitor and support the ocean-climate agenda,” Rebuelta-Teh told Rappler in a message.

The Philippines has one of the longest coastlines in the world. It sits at the heart of the Coral Triangle, the global center of marine biodiversity.

In March 2026, the Philippines rolled out a national roadmap that outlined steps to protect and manage the country’s mangrove forests, seagrass beds, and coastal communities.

How this COP31 ocean agenda will translate for communities in the Philippines and other nations remains to be seen. – Rappler.com

This story was produced as part of the COP31 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network, Informed Earth, and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.