International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), has launched the Coral Reef Breakthrough in partnership with the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) and the High-Level Climate Champions (HLCC).The Initiative was launched at the 37th ICRI General Meeting, 2023.
International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI)
- It is a global partnership between Nations and organizations that strives to preserve coral reefs and related ecosystems around the world.
- The Initiative was founded in 1994 by eight governments: Australia, France, Japan, Jamaica, the Philippines, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
- It was announced at the First Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity,1994.
- ICRI has 101 members, including 45 countries (India is one of them).
High-Level Climate Champions (HLCC)
- They are appointed by the United Nations to facilitate and enhance the engagement of non-state actors such as businesses, cities, regions, and investors in supporting the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR)
- The GFCR is a blended finance instrument to mobilise action and resources to protect and restore coral reef ecosystems.
- It provides grant funding and private capital to support sustainable interventions to save coral reefs and the communities that rely on them.
- UN Agencies, nations, philanthropies, private investors and organisations have joined the Global Fund for Coral Reefs Coalition to deliver on ecological, social and economic resilience.
Coral Reef Breakthrough
- The Coral Reef Breakthrough is a science-based initiative with clear goals for the state and non-state actors to collectively conserve, protect, and restore coral reefs, safeguarding their vital contributions to humanity’s future.
- The Coral Reef Breakthrough aims to secure the future of at least 125,000 km2 of shallow-water tropical coral reefs with investments of at least USD 12 billion to support the resilience of more than half a billion people globally by 2030.
The initiative is based on four action points
Action point 1
- Mitigate local drivers of loss including land-based sources of pollution, destructive coastal development, and overfishing.
Action point 2
- Double the area of coral reefs under effective protection: Bolster resilience-based coral reef conservation efforts by aligning with and transcending global coastal protection targets including 30by30.
- 30 by 30 is a global initiative to protect at least 30% of the Earth’s land and ocean area by 2030. It was proposed during the UNCCD Conference of Parties (COP15).
Action point 3
- Assist the development and implementation of innovative solutions at scale and climate-smart designs that support coral adaptation to impact 30% of degraded reefs by 2030.
Action point 4
- Secure investments of at least USD 12 billion by 2030 from public and private sources to conserve and restore these crucial ecosystems.
- Meeting the targets of the Coral Breakthrough will be instrumental in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG14, Life Below Water.