Leading marine NGO Seas At Risk warmly welcomes European Commission President-designate Ursula von der Leyen’s commitment to an Ocean Pact, announced today [18 July] during the presentation of her Political Guidelines (1) to the new European Parliament.

This initiative follows a clear demand from EU Heads of State and Government for the next Commission to further protect and restore marine ecosystems (2). It offers a significant opportunity to uphold the ambition for a healthy ocean, for the benefit of both people and the planet.

Rémi Cossetti, Marine Policy Officer at Seas At Risk said:

“Today’s announcement of an Ocean Pact marks a promising step forward. We urge the European Commission to ensure the Pact includes concrete and transformative measures to achieve the EU’s goals of climate neutrality, zero pollution, and protection and restoration of marine life, while guaranteeing a just and socially fair transition to environmentally friendly practices. To be impactful, it is crucial that the Pact embraces a holistic approach, ensuring coherence across marine sectors. Therefore, the portfolio of the new Fisheries and Ocean Commissioner must be expanded beyond  a fisheries-centric focus to also put the delivery of the Pact front and centre, to guarantee the resilience of the ocean and the precious marine ecosystems it supports.”

The challenge for the next Commission now lies in translating the Ocean Pact into ambitious and concrete legislative proposals that genuinely foster a low-impact blue economy in harmony with marine health.

Seas At Risk will closely scrutinise the measures proposed by the next Commission, as the substance of these policies is crucial to their own success. Only through detailed and ambitious proposals and adequate funding can the pressing issues faced by the ocean be truly addressed, achieving the long-term resilience for the ocean necessary for marine ecosystems,  human communities, and future generations.

To guide the next Commission in determining the priorities of the Ocean Pact, Seas At Risk, in collaboration with other Brussels-based marine NGOs (3), will launch the Blue Manifesto (4) on 1 October, during EU Ocean Week 2024 (5). This comprehensive roadmap intended to inspire the Commission will outline a series of milestones and their timeline to enable the EU to achieve a healthy ocean and seas by 2030.

ENDS

Note to editors

  1. European Commission President-designate Ursula von der Leyen has published the Commission’s Political Guidelines for the 2024-2029 mandate.
  2. Strategic agenda 2024-2029, adopted by EU Heads of State and Government on 28 June 2024 states: “We will continue to protect nature and reverse the degradation of ecosystems, including oceans. We will strengthen water resilience across the Union.”
  3. The Brussels-based marine NGOs involved in the launch of the Blue Manifesto are: Seas At Risk, BirdLife, ClientEarth, Oceana, Surfrider, WWF.
  4. The Blue Manifesto is a rescue plan for the ocean that lays out concrete actions that must be delivered by set dates in order to turn the tide on degraded and polluted seas and coastlines. The strategic direction of the roadmap has been laid out by the Ocean Of Change manifesto Seas At Risk and other European marine NGOs published in the run-up to the EU elections, proposing an Ocean Deal and an Ocean Fund.
  5. The fourth edition of EU Ocean Week 2024 will take place from 30 September to 6 October 2024, featuring a week full of events led by civil society. This initiative aims to bring the ocean closer to citizens, policy-makers and other interested groups, raising awareness on the importance of the ocean to counter the ecological and climate crises.

Posted on: 18 July 2024