Ocean Crisis Working Group
In recent years multiple reports have highlighted the ongoing climate crisis and severe impacts on ocean and terrestial systems. In the 2025 Global Tipping Point Report report, the latest science is highlighting profound implications for whole ocean and terrestrial Earth systems, biomes and societal wellbeing.
Through the Earth system tipping point revision and the recent joint Royal Society/National Academy of Sciences Ocean Tipping Points Forum initiative and wider research, EUAC colleagues have gained a good understanding of the accelerating warming situation, and associated stressor ramifications, including ocean current changes, carbon sink declines extreme events, deoxygenation, acidification and sea-level rise. The profound regional consequences (especially for Europe and North America) of an increasing decline, and potential collapse, of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current is a prime example of threat severity.
Along with urgent emissions reductions, meeting this environmental crisis is crucially reliant on highly interconnected ocean and terrestrial (especially forest) biome protection and strengthening if their essential carbon sink, and wider climate change mitigation potential, is to be realised. Current climate change policy action is failing on both of these imperatives.
The EUAC community has always prided itself on knowledge sharing and collaborating for species and environmental protection. We are all aware of the unique role aquariums and zoos play in helping connect people with nature and oceans and playing a vital role as knowledge sharing hubs, making scientific information understandable to their visitors, sparking enthusiasm and advocating for effective environmental policy action. EUAC has established a working group with the following remit: support the EUAC community with the latest impact, mitigation and adaptation information for best addressing the environmental crisis and then to enable effective collaboration with other zoological associations (EAZA/WAZA), SSC groups, botanical gardens and museums.
Activities will include:
- providing a hub for information and to sharing links to various platforms
- providing information in easily understood language through briefing notes
- where relevant and appropriate provide the EUAC community with educational information to give to visitors
- where appropriate to provide the EUAC community with information to liase with policy makers and encourage policy changes
Get involved
The working group is still looking for people to join. Please get in touch with Lauren (lauren.florisson@eaza.net)