Bangladesh, Jan. 7 -- For decades, global climate policy treated the ocean as a passive backdrop – vast, resilient, and largely beyond the reach of effective governance. Climate negotiations focused overwhelmingly on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting forests, and transitioning energy systems, while the ocean was assumed to absorb humanitys excesses without consequence. That assumption has now collapsed. At the most recent UN Climate Change Conference, COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the ocean emerged not as an afterthought, but as a central pillar of climate governance. This shift marks a profound transformation in how the world understands climate risk, responsibility, and survival.

The reasons for this change are rooted ...