- Launch of Oceans and Fisheries Climate Change Response TF and Holding the Public-Private Integrated Workshop -

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Minister MOON, Seong-Hyeok) is launching the ‘Oceans and Fisheries Climate Change Response Task Force’ team (Lead: Deputy Minister for Marine Policy) and holding the Public-Private Integrated Workshop on 22nd November (Monday). The workshop will be held in a hybrid format (onsite and virtual), chaired by the Deputy Minister of Marine Policy, with participation from experts in diverse fields, including academia, public institutions, and government-funded research institutions.

During the sixth Assessment Report (AR6) announced last August, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has updated its global warming forecast by 1.5℃ to 2040, reducing the previous expectation of 2052 by 12 years. The ocean is sensitive to the effects of climate change, such as the rise in sea levels and the impacts of high-water temperatures. At the same time, the ocean is a sector with huge potential to respond to climate change and absorbs about 20~30% of the artificially emitted carbon.

Various sectors are linked to the oceans, including shipping, seaports, and fisheries. By considering such characteristics of the marine sector, the ‘Oceans and Fisheries Climate Change Response TF’ team consists of a wide range of private-sector experts from all fields of marine and fisheries to build on an integrated multi-perspective response approach towards the various patterns of climate change and their impacts on the oceans.

The task force team consists of three sub-divisions of carbon neutrality, observation and prediction, and adaptation and prevention. The sub-division on carbon neutrality will discuss the emission reductions in shipping, ports, and fisheries sectors, increasing absorption with blue carbon or marine energy, and the transition to green. The sub-division on observation and prediction will discuss the impacts of marine climate change, including the changes in sea levels and temperatures and the melting of polar sea ice, and on the accurate observation and prediction approaches regarding the changing trends of marine resources and eco-systems. Lastly, the sub-division on adaptation and prevention will discuss ideas on improving adaptability and prevention measures for climate disasters, such as coastal erosion and damage to fisheries, by the different areas of marine and fisheries sector.

The upcoming Public-Private Integrated Workshop will be held together with the kick-off meeting. It will become the venue to raise the national interest in climate change across all areas of marine and fisheries, to build on a consensus that active response plans are necessary, and to discuss current and potential future initiatives.

Deputy Minister SONG, Sang-Keun of the Marine Policy Office stated that “there are growing global concerns on the impacts of marine climate change as well as discussions for resolving such challenges” and added that (the Ministry) “will actively engage with the Climate Change TF team to leverage private expertise and knowledge in forming practical policy strategies.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will be preparing its ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality Roadmap for the Oceans and Fisheries Sector’ and the ‘Fourth Comprehensive Climate Change Response Plan for the Oceans and Fisheries Sector (2022~2026)’ by the end of the year, based on the ideas and insights presented through this workshop. These plans will also include key initiatives in the marine and fisheries sector to transition to carbon-neutrality, plans to advance the observation and prediction capacity against marine climate change and the consequent change trends in fisheries and the marine eco-system, and the diversification approach of the adaptation and prediction plans against climate change.