EU Presents European Ocean Pact

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has presented the European Ocean Pact at the third UN Ocean Conference in Nice.

The initiative is aimed at safeguarding the long-term health of the world’s ocean. It serves as both a commitment and a call to action, fostering stronger transnational cooperation and innovative ocean governance to ensure the long-term health of ocean.

EU actions include:

The EU, joined by several Member States, has formally ratified the landmark Treaty of the High Seas to protect the ocean (BBNJ Agreement) on 28 May in New York.

The EU is also revitalizing the High-Ambition Coalition to mobilize global support for the treaty's implementation, while advancing the legislative work to transpose the BBNJ Agreement into EU law.

The EU is launching a €40 million Global Ocean Programme to support partner countries in ratifying and implementing the BBNJ Agreement and is establishing a strong science-policy interface through the International Platform on Ocean Sustainability (IPOS), with the EU allocating nearly €1 million to support its work.

In addition, the EU is tabling more than 50 voluntary commitments, worth nearly € 1 billion. These commitments go beyond the European continent, with projects in developing countries for example.

Around one third of the financial commitments the EU is pledging in Nice are about science and innovation. The EU’s ambition is to improve knowledge on the ocean and make this knowledge readily available to citizens, entrepreneurs, scientists and policy-makers. This will help design the most effective ways to restore marine and coastal habitats, support a sustainable blue economy, mitigate and adapt to climate change.

As part of the European Ocean Pact, the EU will prepare an Ocean Observation initiative and is developing a digital representation of the ocean, the European Digital Twin of the Ocean.