Oceans and the law of the sea A/RES/72/73 coastal biodiversity, adopted at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, from 6 to 17 October 2014, 87 and to increase national, regional and global efforts to address levels of ocean acidity and the negative impact of such acidity on vulnerable marine ecosystems, particularly coral reefs; 191. Notes with appreciation that, at its forty-third session, held in Nairobi, from 11 to 13 April 2016, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change decided to prepare a special report on climate change and oceans and the cryosphere; 88 192. Recalls that, in “The future we want”, States called for support for initiatives that address ocean acidification and the impacts of climate change on marine and coastal ecosystems and resources and in this regard reiterated the need to work collectively to prevent further ocean acidification, as well as to enhance the resilience of marine ecosystems and of the communities whose livelihoods depend on them, and to support marine scientific research, monitoring and observation of ocean acidification and particularly vulnerable ecosystems, including through enhanced international cooperation in this regard; 193. Welcomes, in this regard, the holding in Monaco, from 15 to 17 October 2017, of the fourth International Workshop on the Socioeconomic Impacts of Ocean Acidification, on the theme “From sciences to solutions: ocean acidification impacts on ecosystem services – case study on coral reefs”, organized by the Scientific Centre of Monaco and the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre of the International Atomic Energy Agency; 194. Notes with concern the approximately 30 per cent increase in the acidity of ocean surface waters since the beginning of the industrial era 89 and the wide range of impacts associated with the continuing and alarming acidification of the world ’s oceans, and urges States to make significant efforts to tackle the causes of ocean acidification, recognizing countries’ national circumstances and respective capabilities, and to further study and minimize its impacts, to enhance local, national, regional and global cooperation in this regard, including the sharing of relevant information and the development of worldwide capacity, including in developing countries, to measure ocean acidification, and to take steps to make marine ecosystems healthier and, as a result, more resilient, to the extent possible, to the impacts of ocean acidification; 195. Recognizes the attention paid to ocean acidification at the fourteenth and eighteenth meetings of the Informal Consultative Process, and commits itself to continue to pay attention to this important issue, including by taking into account the First Global Integrated Marine Assessment (the first World Ocean Assessment), the ongoing work of the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre and the scientific cooperation fostered by the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network; 196. Encourages States, individually or in collaboration with relevant international organizations and bodies, to enhance their scientific activity to better understand the effects of climate change on the marine environment and marine biodiversity, support continued coordination of scientific work to study and minimize the impacts of ocean acidification and develop ways and means of adaptation, taking into account, as appropriate, the precautionary approach and ecosystem approaches; __________________ 87 88 89 17-21819 See United Nations Environment Programme, document UNEP/CBD/COP/12/29, sect. I. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, decision IPCC/XLIII -6. As stated in the 2013 report of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the physical science basis of climate change. 33/55