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By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

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Coral reefs are feeling the heat this week as scientific research revealed another major global bleaching event amid record-warm ocean temperatures.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed the world’s fourth mass global bleaching event is underway, with serious consequences for marine life and for the people and economies that rely on reefs.

Along coastlines from Australia to Kenya to Mexico, many of the world’s colorful coral reefs have turned a ghostly white in what scientists said amounted to the fourth global bleaching event in the last three decades.

Bleaching is triggered by water temperature anomalies that cause corals to expel the colorful algae living in their tissues. Without the algae’s help in delivering nutrients to the corals, the corals cannot survive.

Also on my radar today:

• Native American group seeks to overturn US court ruling on Rio’s Arizona copper mine
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• When Facebook blocks news, studies show the political risks that follow

Coral reefs bleach in the Great Barrier Reef as scientists conduct in-water monitoring in Martin Reef. Australian Institute of Marine Science/Veronique Mocellin/ Handout via REUTERS

At least 54 countries and territories have experienced mass bleaching among their reefs since February 2023 as climate change warms the ocean’s surface waters, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Watch, the world’s top coral reef monitoring body.

“More than 54% of the reef areas in the global ocean are experiencing bleaching-level heat stress,” Coral Reef Watch coordinator Derek Manzello said.

The announcement of the latest global bleaching event was made jointly by NOAA and the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), a global intergovernmental conservation partnership. 

For an event to be deemed global, significant bleaching must occur in all three ocean basins – the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian – within a 365-day period.

Corals are invertebrates that live in colonies. Their calcium carbonate secretions form hard and protective scaffolding that serves as a home to many colorful species of single-celled algae.

The two organisms have evolved over millennia to work together, with corals providing shelter to algae, while the algae remove coral waste compounds and deliver energy and oxygen back to their hosts.

Coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor but have out-sized benefits for marine ecosystems and economies.

The European Union announced that it will spend 3.5 billion euros ($3.71 billion) to protect the ocean and promote sustainability through a series of initiatives this year, the EU’s top environment official said on Tuesday.

The 40 commitments range from fighting marine pollution to supporting sustainable fisheries and investments in the so-called blue economy – sustainable use of marine and freshwater resources for economic activity.

The commitments were announced during the annual “Our Ocean” conference held in Athens this week and attended by about 120 countries.

The commitments include supporting 14 investments and one reform in sustainable fisheries in Cyprus, Greece, Poland, and Portugal worth about 1.9 billion euros, and 980 million euros under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to be used in Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Italy and Spain to support four investments and two reforms to fight marine pollution.

“The ocean is part of who we are, and it is our shared responsibility,” said EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevicius.

Additionally, the host of the conference, Greece, is pushing ahead with 21 initiatives worth 780 million euros to protect marine biodiversity and tackle coastal pollution, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.

Indonesian rescuers and residents evacuate people from the site of a landslide that affected two villages in South Sulawesi province, Indonesia. Antara Foto/Arnas Padda/via REUTERS

Dr Omar Al-Attas, head of environmental protection and regeneration at Red Sea Global, a Saudi-based multi-project developer, shares his thoughts on ocean conservation and the role of technology:

“Our oceans are facing many challenges, from pollution and overfishing to the threat of climate change.

“In addition, a University of Queensland study found that only 15% of coastal areas across the globe are ecologically intact. This alarming statistic highlights the urgent need to address the damage caused by overdevelopment and environmental degradation.

“Fortunately, technological innovations are emerging as promising tools for tackling these issues.

“Acoustic tagging, for example, is a particularly interesting development. It involves attaching trackable tags to fish to monitor their movements and behaviour. It’s now being used to protect the Halavi guitarfish, a species of ray that is near extinction in the Indo-West Pacific because of overfishing, bycatch, and low reproductive rates.

“Another example – 3D mapping technology for coral reefs – has radically transformed coral restoration efforts. At The Red Sea destination, the use of this technology has allowed us to create detailed models of this complex but vital ecosystem, aiding in its preservation and regeneration efforts.

“Technology and ocean conservation go hand in hand and with the fate of our oceans hanging in the balance, we need to be using every tool at our disposal.”

Emerging countries will pay a record $400 billion to service external debt this year, and 47 of them cannot spend the money they need for climate adaptation and sustainable development without risking default in the next five years, according to a report released on the eve of IMF/World Bank spring meetings.

The report, from the Debt Relief for Green and Inclusive Recovery Project (DRGR) found that the 47 developing countries would hit external debt insolvency thresholds, as defined by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in the next five years if they invested the necessary amounts to hit 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement goals.

Divers tie rescued corals onto coral nurseries in Bauan, Batangas province, Philippines, March 10, 2024. REUTERS/Peter Blaza

In keeping with today’s main focus on coral reefs, today’s spotlight showcases a group of scuba diving experts and enthusiasts who are setting up coral nurseries in a popular dive spot south of the Philippine capital Manila to help in the propagation and recovery of damaged coral.

In coastal town Bauan in Batangas province, divers collect coral damaged and dislodged by natural calamities and man-made interference such as plastic waste and dynamite fishing, and salvage living parts before placing them in coral nurseries.

Bauan, a two-hour drive from Manila, boasts a diverse coral population that has attracted diving enthusiasts for decades. But its coral has frequently suffered from natural hazards such as typhoons and human-caused destruction, endangering the ecosystem and tourism industry.

In 2020, parts of the surrounding Batangas province suffered a mass coral bleaching event – when high temperature turns coral white through algae loss – with about 72 kilometers (45 miles) of coastline affected, said conservationist group Reef Watch Philippines.

It prompted Bauan-based scuba diving instructor and resort owner Carmela Sevilla to plant nurseries for detached coral and invite like-minded conservationists to join the initiative.

A sea otter stands as another sea otter emerges from water, at the Aquarium of the Pacific, in Long Beach, California, U.S. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Over in California, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach is partnering with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to pair pups with surrogate sea otter mothers with the hope of teaching them life skills and returning them to the wild.

Every year, around 10 to 15 sea otter pups are found stranded off the California coast, often due to storms that separate mother and offspring.

As part of the program, the aquarium has successfully bonded their first surrogate mom, called Ellie, and a currently unnamed pup.

Today’s Sustainable Switch was edited by Tomasz Janowski

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