The Coral Reef Breakthrough has been launched by the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI)

The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), a network comprising 45 countries representing over 75% of the world's coral reefs, has introduced the Coral Reef Breakthrough initiative in collaboration with the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) and the High-Level Climate Champions (HLCC) during the 37th International Coral Reef Initiative General Meeting. The primary objective of the Coral Reef Breakthrough is to safeguard the future of a minimum of 125,000 square kilometers of shallow-water tropical coral reefs through investments totaling at least US$12 billion. These investments are aimed at enhancing the resilience of over half a billion people worldwide by the year 2030.

H.E. Razan Al Mubarak, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28, emphasized the vital role of coral reefs, stating, "Coral reefs are more than just beautiful; they are our lifelines. They are essential to the security and resilience of many nations, especially those in low-lying island states, facing the challenges of climate change. The Coral Reef Breakthrough is an initiative that holds global significance, benefiting the hundreds of millions of people who rely on coastal communities."

Coral reefs are present in over 100 countries and territories and provide support to at least 25% of marine species. They play a crucial role in sustaining the interconnected marine biodiversity of the Earth, delivering ecosystem services valued at up to $9.9 trillion annually. Over one billion people, including vulnerable coastal communities, depend on healthy coral reefs for their livelihoods. These reefs are critical to the security, resilience, and climate adaptation of numerous climate-vulnerable nations. However, the functional existence of these vital ecosystems is threatened by the climate crisis and various human-induced stressors, and time is running out to protect them effectively.

The Coral Reef Breakthrough is founded on science-based, quantifiable, and attainable objectives for both state and non-state actors to collectively conserve, protect, and restore coral reefs on the necessary scale to ensure the future of these essential ecosystems and their invaluable contributions to humanity. As the first global targets for coral reefs, the Breakthrough will be realized by mobilizing public and private financial resources and supporting sustainable conservation investments. These efforts will activate and enhance established solutions and stimulate coordinated actions to achieve the Ocean and Coastal Impact System targets of the Sharm-El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

In addition to broad climate action, the Coral Reef Breakthrough will address local drivers of coral loss, including land-based pollution sources, harmful coastal development, and overfishing. It aims to double the area of coral reefs under effective protection, aligning with and surpassing global coastal protection targets like the 30by30 initiative. The initiative also seeks to accelerate restoration efforts to impact 30% of degraded reefs by 2030, all while securing at least USD 12 billion in investments by 2030 from both public and private sources for coral reef conservation and restoration.

Francis Staub, ICRI Global Coordinator, emphasized that the Coral Reef Breakthrough's ambitious targets were developed with input from a dedicated working group comprising over 30 leading coral reef experts. This ensures that the goals are grounded in scientific evidence, actionable, measurable, and reflect the urgency of addressing the coral crisis.

Achieving the Coral Reef Breakthrough means preventing the functional extinction of one of the world's most threatened, yet most valuable and biodiverse, ecosystems, as stated in an official statement by the Coral Reef Breakthrough initiative.