WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration’s Ocean Climate Action Plan will leverage oceans themselves to mitigate and tackle climate change – a crucial pathway to addressing the climate crisis facing people and wildlife. The administration also directed considerations of designating a marine sanctuary for the waters around the Pacific Remote Islands, some of the richest ecosystems in the world. 

“The latest IPCC report sounds the alarm that the window for meaningful action to address the climate crisis before we experience widespread loss and destruction is rapidly closing. Nature-based solutions are some of the most powerful tools we have to take on this emergency,” said Jessie Ritter, associate vice president for water and coasts at the National Wildlife Federation. “Our oceans and our coastlines can support a range of climate change mitigation and adaptation actions, including supporting clean energy generation, increasing carbon storage and making ecosystems and coastal communities more resilient to the effects of the climate crisis.  We look forward to working with the administration, Congress, and communities to implement this forward-looking plan.”