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PROFILE

Supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Ocean Acidification
international Reference User Group (OA-iRUG) was founded to share scientific
results on ocean acidification with non-scientific audiences and science end users,
specifically political leaders and policy-makers. This historic group, one of the first to
address the phenomenon of ocean acidification, has worked with several groups and
projects such as EPOCA (the first European project on the topic), the Monegasque
Association for Ocean Acidification (AMAO), as well as the GOA-ON (Global Ocean
Acidification Observing Network) research network.

SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION: BIOSOLUTIONS AND
A PRIORITY INTEGRATED STRATEGIES

The meeting was an opportunity to review the topic, The second half of the meeting involved a discussion
which is becoming more widely studied in the Medi- by experts from various maritime sectors, notably
terranean thanks to the support of international ini- fishing, aquaculture, and representatives of govern-
tiatives. Whilst the response of habitats, the impact ment agencies and international organisations wor-
on benthic ecosystems and on some hundred tar- king on the topic.
get species are closely studied, the socio-economic The significant impact of poorer water quality in the
implications remain poorly understood. Researchers Mediterranean on fishing resources and shellfish
note a geographic bias, with most data focused on farming was highlighted. Marine protected areas
the north-west of the Mediterranean. As a result, emerged as important means to combat acidification,
researchers are targeting a new, less Eurocentric a “real threat which is not yet on the political agen-
coordinated research programme, which is focused da”, condemned a representative from the MED-
on societal processes and a unique ecosystem ap- SEA Foundation. To take action, biosolutions based
proach. The Mediterranean GOA-ON should allow on the marine environment have been put forward,
this coordination, as well as support for scientists with “scientific information reaching more politicians”,
from low-income countries, notably by establishing concluded senior official Vahakn Kabakian, from the
regional centres of excellence. “We need a general Lebanese Ministry of the Environment, representing
framework which reflects the environmental threat”, UNDP, drawing a conclusion for the meeting: “We
warns Donata Melaku Canu, researcher at the Na- need integrated strategies”.
tional Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geo-
physics in Trieste, suggesting the option of a unique
treaty on ocean acidification, similar to plastics.

DISRUPTED OCEAN CHEMISTRY

The planet’s oceans have absorbed nearly 1/3 of CO emissions over the last 50 years
2
(even more according to the most recent research), mitigating the effects and severity
of climate change. But this invaluable service comes at a cost. Radical changes occur
THE in the ocean’s water chemistry: the lower its pH, the more it acidifies. This change has
CONTEXT numerous consequences on marine life, particularly organisms which need limestone to
build their shells and skeletons (notably plankton, molluscs and crustaceans).