On World Oceans Day 2022, the EU has announced a €500 million investment into its Mission Ocean research programme, under the EU Commission’s funding programme Horizon Europe, and other ocean-related programmes. Mission Ocean aims to restore oceans and waterways by 2030 by funding a network of lighthouses at sea and river basin scale, expanding the networks of marine protected areas and establishing an EU-wide ‘Blue Parks’ initiative to provide new restoration and conservation opportunities. The EU has partnered with 40 countries to form a ‘high ambition coalition’ on the sustainable use and conservation of marine biodiversity and has declared its support for a future UN Treaty of the High Seas. The blue economy is currently estimated to be worth at least 3.5% of global GDP, a value predicted to double by 2030, and more then 350 million jobs worldwide are linked to the ocean. A report released in 2020 by the World Resource Institute suggested that investment in sustainable ocean strategies could generate total benefits of US$10.3-26.5 trillion by 2050.
We don’t treat #OurOcean right.
It pains me to see it filled up with plastics, being polluted, losing its marine life.
We’ve got good policies.
In a few weeks we’ll also launch our Ocean Governance initiative.
Time to implement them.https://t.co/26oiyLW7w0#WorldOceanDay pic.twitter.com/CG8T3E33h1
— Virginijus Sinkevičius (@VSinkevicius) June 8, 2022
