This issue of Blue Pulse brings together relevant research in the areas of marine protected areas, fisheries management, fisheries subsidies, seafood traceability, climate change and ‘blue carbon’.

The returning of mutual trust and good faith in global governance is in need. Comparing with the slow progress in the negotiation for MPAs in the Southern Ocean, science and policy researches relating to the conservation of Southern Ocean have been fruitful this year.

The statements by national leaders at the UN Biodiversity Summit are an important “stocktaking of political will” in the lead-up to next year’s 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

With the United Nations Biodiversity Summit held last week, discussions on the process of biodiversity conservation are gaining momentum. While the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is approaching and discussions on the process of establishing marine protected areas in the Antarctic Peninsula are gathering momentum.

The impact of climate change on the polar oceans is once again the focus of Blue Pulse’s attention, along with our concern that the design and management of marine protected areas determines the costs and benefits of conservation.

This issue focuses on coral reefs and includes a discussion of coral reef responses to climate change from the perspectives of productivity, biodiversity, and fisheries.