Brest (AFP)

In total, 37 scientists from 33 countries take the floor (oneoceanscience.com) through short videos to explain why ocean science is essential, how climate and ocean are linked and what solutions they are working on. to preserve ocean ecosystems and society in the face of the impacts of climate change.

In a video filmed from the International Space Station (ISS), astronaut Thomas Pesquet also shares his vision of the ocean and expresses his support for scientists.

"Ocean sciences are essential to understand the climate system but also to fight against climate change", assured during a press conference François Houllier, CEO of Ifremer (French research institute for the exploitation of the sea ), believing that the ocean has "remained too long on the sidelines of the climate negotiations".

Ifremer, CNRS and IRD (Research Institute for Development), with the support of Thomas Pesquet but also the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Ocean and Climate Platform - which carries the voice of 'a hundred organizations in France and abroad - are at the origin of this campaign launched a few days before Cop 26.

The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held between October 31 and November 12 in Scotland, is seen as a pivotal moment in determining global carbon reduction targets and tackling global warming.

Funded by the Priority Ocean-Climate Research Program and labeled as part of the United Nations Decade for Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), OneOceanScience will open the Ocean Day of COP26 on November 5 in Glasgow.

"The climate and the ocean are intimately linked, the climate impacts the ocean, the biodiversity it shelters, and reciprocally the ocean and its biodiversity impact the climate", underlined Virginie Thierry, researcher in physical oceanography at the Ifremer.

"It is extremely important to reiterate this message of interdependence between the climate, the ocean and human societies," she said.

© 2021 AFP