The Conference of Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity also known at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference will be held in Cali, Columbia on October 21 through November 1, 2024.

A special session on coral reefs has been called by the UN Secretary General’s Envoy for the Ocean, HE Ambassador Peter Thompson. This is needed now to address the ongoing impacts of the fourth global coral bleaching event. By providing the latest scientific information, they hope to develop methods to improve resiliency. The latest bleaching event is impacting about 75% of coral reefs worldwide.

COP 16 is focused on building on the 2022 COP 15 Kummig-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework that targets protecting 30% of the planet and restore 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030.

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Sea State covers

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• REEF’s Discover the Sea Photo Contest
  
• CA Plastic Bag law update
  
• Fourth Element’s new Pelagic Watch
  
• The Ghost Ship of the Pacific
  
• Silky Shark migration
  
• scubadivermag.com to merge into divernet.com