The POMP – Polar Ocean Mitigation Potential project will organize the Session 2.8 – “Keeping Your Cool – Polar Benthic Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning in a Changing Ocean” at the WCMB 2026 conference, that will take place from 17 to 20 November 2026 in Bruges, Belgium.
This session falls under Theme 2: “Marine biodiversity: it’s all about the baselines and trends”. It will bring together researchers, stakeholders and practitioners working on polar benthic ecosystems to explore how these systems respond to climate change, how they contribute to mitigation potential, and how we can better monitor and understand them.
For POMP, polar benthic biodiversity is central: mapping, modelling and assessing these ecosystems’ mitigation contributions is a key objective. By organising this session, POMP will help place polar benthic strands within the international marine biodiversity agenda and foster cross cutting dialogue.
During this session, participants will be able to:
- Gain the latest insights into long term monitoring of polar seabed communities and how biodiversity and ecosystem function are changing in polar regions.
- Explore emerging technologies and innovative methods (e.g., high resolution imaging, eDNA, benthic ecosystem modelling) that improve our capacity to detect trends and baselines.
- Discuss how polar benthic systems feed into mitigation assessments — aligning with POMP’s mission to advance understanding of how polar marine ecosystems contribute to climate change mitigation.
- Expand networks across polar and non polar benthic specialists, including scientists, data managers, model builders, policy experts and industry stakeholders.