Summary

Background and Expected Outcomes:

The world is living through a biodiversity crisis. The rapid pace at which the number of species have declined in recent decades has led to the assumption that a mass extinction is under way. Ocean acidification (OA) has been identified as a potential driver for biodiversity loss with consequences for marine ecosystems and the communities that rely on them for food and livelihoods. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has mandated member countries to actively combat this biodiversity crisis, and many are putting action plans in place for that purpose. However, there is no consensus on indicators to quantify and qualify the consequences of OA on biodiversity and management options. In a first workshop in April 2026, the  biological working group of GOA-ON, supported by IOC and the OA-ICC, invites interested scientists and stakeholders to evaluate the current knowledge on the impact of OA on biodiversity and current best practices, identify key gaps in knowledge and propose strategies and best practices, as well as support the identification of approaches appropriate to assess the impact of ocean acidification on marine biodiversity within the EEZ (CBD) and beyond (BBNJ).

Participants are asked to study the agenda and prepare discussion points for the different agenda items. Participants are encouraged to share relevant information and literature ahead of the meeting.