"The international community must do much, much more than the resolve in the Glasgow Pact, to accept the difficulty, to transcend the doubt, to risk the danger, and to dare to move beyond incremental consensus toward a dramatic restructuring of international focus, law, and institutions. . ."

Alas, the international community cannot make binding commitments and plans. That is the work of nation states, and the more Machiavellian the more they can do. Nor is the international community responsible for national goals unmet. Time to recalibrate expectations.

It is a significant step forward to call for “an annual ‘ocean-climate dialogue’ to be held in June 2022 by the ‘Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice,’ to formally anchor the ocean within the climate negotiations.”

It is significant that nations controlling 85% of lands covered by forests have pledged to stop deforestation by 2030. No such measures are being taken for the ocean because much of it is international waters.

There is no point in arguing over what biome is most important for climate. Focusing on one, even the biggest one, alone, will NOT solve the global problem. We must practice responsible stewardship for the entire planet Earth as if it were one living ecosystem, some say it is. Dramatic restructuring of international laws and institutions is a waste of energy when climate impacts are local. To be effective solutions must be indigenous place-based, region by region, watershed by watershed. What is good for Greenland may not be best for Manhattan.

Speaking of the ocean, the challenge of climate change would be better met if as much attention that is being directed to fossil fuel burning was also directed to restoring the hydrologic water cycles. The atmospheric rise of carbon dioxide, measured as in parts per million, makes for a compelling hockey stick graph that matches the rise of the industrial revolution and the tarmacking/desertification of the land. Meanwhile, water, measured by percent or parts per hundred, is a much larger greenhouse gas than is carbon, by a thousand times.

Unlike a big portion of the mousy carbon cycle, nature turns the elephantine water cycle. So the more we destroy and separate from nature the worse the climate crisis.

Let’s restore life to both land and sea, or as you say, the full fresh/salt-water continuum. We may then experience less extremes in the weather and improvements to the climate. Act local to improve the global for everyone. And then gather at the next COP, perhaps by the Red Sea, to listen and learn from each other.