Ó An Roinn Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitúil agus Oidhreachta
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The Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, welcomed the launch today (Wednesday 13 September) of the most comprehensive assessment ever undertaken of the environmental status of the North-East Atlantic.
OSPAR’s Quality Status Report (QSR) 2023 highlights how a loss of marine biodiversity, pollution and climate change continue to affect the North-East Atlantic. Among a myriad of findings the report concludes that climate change and ocean acidification, which is caused by the sea’s increased uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and which impacts the ability of organisms to form shells and skeletons, are important drivers of change in the North-East Atlantic, in turn threatening marine biodiversity. It also presents further evidence that the state of marine food webs is changing. Improvements in relation to human activities have however been recorded in a number of areas, such as the prevention of pollution by radioactive substances and a reduction in negative impacts from oil and gas activities.
Commenting on the ground-breaking report and its findings, Minister Noonan said:
“As living witnesses to a changing Atlantic, it’s crucial that we regularly and rigorously gather the science and present the evidence that tells us how our marine environment is doing, and that we do that in concert with our neighbours in the UK, mainland Europe and our Nordic and Icelandic partners. OSPAR and the QSR 2023 provide that platform, to work together for our shared marine environment and to point out where decisive action is needed to protect it and restore it.
"For Ireland, the QSR 2023 assessments indicate how the comparatively lower level of urbanisation and industrial activity around our coasts and in our seas has so far afforded us a relatively clean, healthy, diverse and productive marine environment. However, it’s clear that the identified wider and growing challenges posed by climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, including marine litter, and the ongoing poor status of many marine species and habitats demonstrate a clear need for further coordinated action by OSPAR Contracting Parties.”
Mr. Michael Gillooly, Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Marine Institute said:
“The Marine Institute welcomes the publication of the OSPAR QSR report 2023, which provides a comprehensive assessment of the environmental health of the North-East Atlantic Ocean. The importance of maintaining a healthy ocean is vital for Ireland’s future, it provides us with jobs, food and regulates our climate.
"The compilation of scientific evidence is critical to informing the health of our seas and oceans. Changes in the environmental status of our waters affect seafood, transport and biodiversity. The QSR 2023 is an important source of evidence for scientists, decision makers and the public about the state of our ocean and the challenges it faces.
"I am especially pleased by the contribution of my colleagues in the Marine Institute to the delivery of the Quality Status Report 2023. We have a team of scientists with expert knowledge on the marine environment, pollution, biodiversity and climate who collaborated with their international colleagues to complete the assessments and prepare the report. In particular, I would like to thank the leadership of Dr Maurice Clarke, who is chair of the OSPAR Fish Expert Group and Dr Evin McGovern, Co-convenor of the OSPAR Group on Ocean Acidification."
Eimear Cotter, Director of the Office of Evidence and Assessment at the EPA said:
"The EPA is delighted to have contributed to this report alongside national and international OSPAR partners. This report provides the scientific facts, gathered over more than a decade from over 400 international experts, to bring us the most comprehensive report dealing with the North-East Atlantic area. This report will be valuable for all of the countries in the area, including Ireland, as we continuously monitor and report on the marine environment nationally to support clean, healthy and biologically diverse oceans."
Encompassing many years of work by 16 parties to the OSPAR Convention, including Ireland, the report sets out the evidence to inform important international and national decisions on how to improve this vital environment. The QSR 2023 results from the combined efforts of over 400 experts, scientists, data analysts and policy colleagues, supported by contributions from OSPAR observers coming from industry, environmental non-governmental organisations and international partner organisations.
Ireland has played a significant role in the whole QSR 2023 assessment, through its chairmanship of the OSPAR Commission in 2018-2022 and through its national delegation to OSPAR, which comprises members of three government departments with additional experts drawn from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Marine Institute and Irish universities.
As part of Ireland’s response to many such marine environmental challenges, and to implementing the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive to achieve and maintain good environmental status in our maritime area, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has been developing comprehensive legislation that will enable the designation, management and expansion of Ireland’s network of marine protected areas (MPAs). Following publication of its General Scheme in December 2022, the Marine Protected Areas Bill is now at an advanced stage of development and is expected to be progressed through the Houses of the Oireachtas in the coming months.
The OSPAR Commission was set up by the 1992 OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, which unified and updated the 1972 Oslo and 1974 Paris Conventions. It brings together the governments of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, together with the European Union.
The full Quality Status Report is available. The QSR comprises a synthesis report and 15 thematic assessments that are underpinned by 120 assessments and their underlying datasets. All of the data, methodologies and content are published under a CC-BY Creative Commons license and can be shared, replicated and adapted.
1. Publication of the QSR 2023 was announced at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Annual Science Conference 2023 at Palacio Euskalduna, in Bilbao (Spain) on 13th September 2023.
2. The findings from the QSR 2023 will be used to help OSPAR deliver its North-East Atlantic Environment Strategy 2030 – its shared Roadmap to achieving our vision of a clean, healthy and biologically diverse North-East Atlantic Ocean, which is productive, used sustainably and resilient to climate change and ocean acidification.
3. The key findings of the QSR 2023 show that: Climate change and ocean acidification are drivers of major change; Despite improvements in some fish populations, many are not in good status; Marine birds are still in trouble; Many marine mammals remain at risk, even while some species are recovering; Negative impacts from oil and gas activities continue to decrease; Marine litter levels remain high despite signs of improvement; Pollution by radioactive substances has been prevented; Hazardous substances are cause for concern; Noise pollution remains a threat; Introductions of new non-indigenous species (NIS) appear to have decreased; Benthic habitats continue to be damaged; Plankton, the base of the marine food web, are impacted in pelagic habitats; We know relatively little about the status of marine turtles; The state of marine food webs is of great concern; Eutrophication persists.
4. In 2021, OSPAR Contracting Party ministers and the European Commission’s Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries agreed an ambitious new North-East Atlantic Environment Strategy (NEAES) that sets out OSPAR’s strategic and operational objectives for the period until the end of 2030. It describes how OSPAR will tackle the triple challenge facing the ocean: biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate change. Its implementation is part of OSPAR’s contribution towards achieving the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals and the targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Implementation of the OSPAR Strategy will address many of the issues highlighted in the QSR 2023. The evidence presented in the QSR 2023 will be used to inform a review of the Strategy in 2025 and to update it where necessary. The full text is available on the OSPAR website.