Australia is being urged to use its prominent international climate diplomacy role to show leadership on ocean health and fill a void left by the United States.
Ahead of mid-year climate talks in Germany, oceans expert Terry Garcia said the global community could not count on the US as a reliable partner and leader on ocean and climate policy in the next two-and-a-half years.
"If progress is to be made, others will have to shoulder the burden," the former senior bureaucrat with the top US climate and weather agency said while delivering the Talbot Oration at the Australian Museum.
"In that regard, Australia and the Asia-Pacific region have the credibility, institutions and scientific capacity this moment urgently requires," he said on Thursday in Sydney.
