CBD COP17

The 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) takes place in Yerevan, Armenia, from 19 to 30 October 2026, bringing together Parties, observers, scientists, Indigenous peoples and local communities, and civil society organizations to assess implementation and agree on next steps.

The ocean sits at the intersection of biodiversity and climate stability. It regulates heat and carbon and supports a large share of the world’s biodiversity, yet warming, acidification, and deoxygenation are placing marine ecosystems under growing stress. As interest in ocean-based climate approaches increases, including marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) and other proposed interventions, so does the need to understand how they interact with biodiversity: their potential benefits and risks, where the evidence is still thin, and how decisions can reflect local priorities.

Ocean Visions works to build the evidence base for these decisions. Our mCDR Road Map assesses the state of knowledge on proposed marine carbon removal approaches, and our Repair program works to systematically identify and assess potential approaches to prolong and reinforce the functioning of critical components of the ocean–climate system. At COP17, we are contributing to four sessions focused on what is known about the biodiversity impacts of these approaches, what research is still needed, and how scientists, communities, and policymakers can work together on responsible research.

COP17 Ocean Pavilion

Ocean Visions is also supporting the program for the first CBD Ocean Pavilion, co-hosted by Oceans 5, Bloomberg Ocean Initiative, and Ocean Resilience and Climate Alliance. The Ocean Pavilion will highlight the ocean’s importance in restoring and protecting global biodiversity across more than 80 events. Well over 100 organizations from across the globe are hosting or co-hosting Ocean Pavilion events, including governments, UN agencies, coalitions and community networks, universities, and civil society organizations. Sessions will explore 30×30 implementation, community and Indigenous leadership, ocean-climate solutions, sustainable fisheries, finance, scientific research, governance, and emerging implementation needs.

View the full Ocean Pavilion schedule here and contact Leonardo Valenzula Pérez or Laura Anderson to learn more about this effort.

Event: Demonstrating leadership across science, engagement, and policy to investigate ocean-climate solutions

Date: Monday, 19 October
Time: 11:30–12:30
Location: CBD COP17 Women’s Hub
Organized by: Dalhousie University; Ocean Frontier Institute

Responsible and ethical research on climate solutions is essential to assess potential climate benefits as well as biodiversity and socio-economic trade-offs. For ocean-based solutions, like marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) and coastal resilience, converging expertise across science, policy, and society is necessary to leverage interdisciplinary expertise, co-produce community-informed science to guide decision-making, and ensure that community perspectives are integrated into project design. To ensure that ocean-climate solutions offer more benefits than harm to biodiversity and the environment, recent global efforts have brought together fishers, aquaculture, and Indigenous community members alongside scientists, and policy experts to co-develop frameworks and best practice guides focused at this intersection. In this panel, we will share perspectives from the women leaders pioneering such global initiatives and share insights why we, as women, have been successful leading interdisciplinary and community-oriented ocean-climate research initiatives.

Speakers

Kalina Grabb, CONVERGE CDR Research Lead and Postdoctoral Fellow, Dalhousie University (moderator)
Laura Anderson, Program Officer, Reach, Ocean Visions
Ann Marie Hulver, Research Fellow, Climate Systems Engineering initiative, University of Chicago
Kristin Kleisner, Associate Vice President, Oceans Science, Environmental Defense Fund
Marine Lecerf, Head of International Policy, Ocean & Climate Platform

Event: Impacts of mCDR and SRM on Ocean Biodiversity: What We Know, What We Don’t, and What Research Is Needed

Date: Tuesday, 20 October
Time: 14:30–15:45
Location: COP17 Ocean Pavilion
Organized by: Emerging Climate Frontiers; Ocean Visions

Biodiversity concerns are often raised in SRM and mCDR discussions, yet little research has directly examined how different approaches could affect ocean biodiversity and dependent communities. Key gaps remain around both potential risks and how ecological outcomes under carbon removal and intervention scenarios would compare with continued warming.

As interest in this research grows, biodiversity communities have an opportunity to shape the agenda, identify knowledge gaps, and ensure ecosystem considerations are integrated. This session will explore what is known, what remains uncertain, and what ecological assessment, monitoring, modeling, and experimental research is needed to support informed decision-making, with a focus on marine systems and dependent communities.

A broader, biodiversity-centered conversation is needed to assess potential effects on ocean circulation, productivity, fisheries, species distributions, food webs, and ecosystem functioning across these approaches.

Speakers

Adela Hankus, Communications and Members Manager, Climate Strategies
Ann Marie Hulver, Research Fellow, Climate Systems Engineering initiative, University of Chicago
Marcos Silva, Director of Policy Engagement, The Degrees Initiative
John Tracey, Research Fellow, Climate Systems Engineering initiative, University of Chicago
Leonardo Valenzuela Pérez, Senior Director of International Partnerships and Policy, Ocean Visions

Event: State of Research: How Solar Radiation Modification, Cryosphere Interventions, and Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Could Affect Ocean Ecosystems

Date: Wednesday, 21 October
Time: 13:00–14:15
Location: Ocean Pavilion
Organized by: Ocean Visions; The Degrees Initiative

Policymakers are increasingly being asked to consider emerging climate intervention and carbon removal research, including solar radiation modification, cryosphere interventions, and marine carbon dioxide removal. Yet the potential implications for marine ecosystems, fisheries, food webs, biodiversity, and biodiversity-dependent communities remain among the least-developed parts of the evidence base.

This focused briefing will provide a clear overview of what is known, what remains uncertain, and what research is needed to assess ecological risks and potential benefits across different intervention approaches. The briefing will emphasize intervention-related impacts; what can be learned from scales of study, from models to outdoor experiments; and how research can consider ecological outcomes under intervention scenarios compared to those under continued warming.

Speakers

Ann Marie Hulver, Research Fellow, Climate Systems Engineering initiative, University of Chicago
Marcos Silva, Director of Policy Engagement, The Degrees Initiative
John Tracey, Research Fellow, Climate Systems Engineering initiative, University of Chicago
Leonardo Valenzuela Pérez, Senior Director of International Partnerships and Policy, Ocean Visions

Event: An ocean of opportunity: integrating marine carbon dioxide removal with conservation of biodiversity

Date: Thursday, 22 October
Time: 09:00–10:15
Location: Ocean Pavilion
Organized by: Dalhousie University; Ocean Frontier Institute; Ocean Visions

Responsible and ethical research on marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) is needed to assess its potential for carbon removal alongside its environmental, ecological, and socio-economic trade-offs, including impacts on biodiversity. Doing this well depends on bringing science, policy, and communities together, so that community-informed research guides decision-making and community perspectives shape how projects are designed.

This panel will present recent frameworks, knowledge syntheses, and a position paper prepared for COP17 by the ICES Working Group on mCDR Interactions with Ecosystems, Fisheries, and Aquaculture and the UN Ocean Decade project Ocean Mitigation and Impacts to Ecosystems and People. These efforts have brought fishers, aquaculture producers, and Indigenous community members together with scientists and policy experts. Panelists will discuss how mCDR research connects to the goals of the CBD and the BBNJ Agreement, and share recommendations on responsible research, data collection and sharing, and collaboration with Indigenous, fisheries, and aquaculture communities.

Speakers

Kalina Grabb, CONVERGE mCDR Research Lead and Postdoctoral Fellow, Dalhousie University and Ocean Frontier Institute (moderator)
Matt Frost, Head of Office for International Affairs, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK
Kristin Kleisner, Associate Vice President, Oceans, Environmental Defense Fund
Leonardo Valenzuela Pérez, Senior Director of International Partnerships and Policy, Ocean Visions
Dr. Tom Pickerell, Global Director, Ocean Program, World Resources Institute

Related Resources:

Learn more about Ocean Visions’ work on ocean-based climate approaches and the evidence behind them. The resources below cover the current state of knowledge on marine carbon dioxide removal and the principles that guide our research programs. We invite you to explore them before or after COP17.

Meet our Delegation

Laura Anderson, Program Officer, Reach
Leonardo Valenzuela Pérez, Senior Director of International Partnerships and Policy