The EU has a major role to play in protecting the ocean – seas and ocean lovers must make their voices heard!
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The sea is home to a significant proportion of Earth’s biodiversity, yet it is also the location of numerous human activities. This puts unprecedented and unsustainable pressure on the marine environment, dramatically impacting marine biodiversity and ocean resilience. As the world’s biggest maritime territory and with almost half of its population living by the sea, the EU is compelled to set rules to protect marine biodiversity and regulate the activities that take place at sea or which impact the sea.
Environmental groups call for international moratorium on ship scrubbers following cruise giant Carnival's criminal revelations
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As IMO meets this week in London, groups issue call to reevaluate scrubbers as alternative compliance tool for 2020 fuel standards, citing evidence in US federal case against Carnival Corporation
Making Marine Protected Areas work in Europe
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Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) need better protection. Luckily, we have a strong team to do just that. Seas At Risk, together with France Nature Environnement in France, Sciaena in Portugal and Coastwatch & Irish Wildlife Trust in Ireland, are on a mission to make MPAs work in Europe. Every MPA needs to be more than a square on a map. Every MPA needs to be truly protected and managed.
Reduced ship speeds make economic as well as climate sense.
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An important new independent study, “Impact of slow steaming for different types of ships carrying bulk cargo”, commissioned jointly by Seas At Risk and Transport and Environment, has been published and clearly demonstrates the economic viability of reducing ship speeds to cut shipping GHG emissions.
A guide to maritime spatial planning with nature in mind
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The EU Directive on Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP Directive) was adopted in 2014. It is the world’s largest process of maritime spatial planning, with 21 countries due to submit their maritime spatial plans to the European Commission by 2021. Although some Member States have undertaken maritime spatial planning for several years now, most are developing such plans for the first time.
Nature loss puts our planet’s life balance at risk: a call for change
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This year’s International Day of Biological Diversity on May 22 is a timely reminder of the fragility of nature. The seventh Global Assessment Report, published on 6 May by the UN Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, clearly shows that the world is on track for the largest biodiversity extinction wave ever recorded in human history. Up to 1,000,000 species are threatened with extinction, with plant and animal species becoming extinct at one thousand times the rate before humans existed. The causes of this extinction are undoubtedly human: our way of life is killing Earth’s biodiversity.
NGOs raise red flag: end overfishing now or miss legal deadline!
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Today, environmental organisations all over Europe join forces in responding with great concern to a newly released report from the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF). Once again the annual report reveals an alarming lack of progress from the EU in implementing the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and honoring the fast approaching deadline to end overfishing by 2020 (1).
Is microplastic pollution climbing up the EU political agenda?
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The emerging national debate on the environmental impact of single-use plastic, and its restriction, highlights the need to tackle another major source of marine pollution: microplastics. The European Chemical Agency recently called for a public consultation to restrict microplastics. Seas At Risk calls on Environmental and Health Ministries, civil society organisations and research institutes across Europe to take part in the consultation process and submit arguments and evidence in favour of an ambitious and wide-ranging restriction.
EMFF: Ticking time-bomb for the ocean
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The European Parliament plenary voted today on how to spend approximately EUR 6 billion of European taxpayers’ money on ocean-linked activities under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) 2021-2027.
EMFF: Will Members of the European Parliament think bigger and conserve our oceans?
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This coming week sees a window of opportunity to improve the deplorable state of our seas and oceans. On 4 April, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will decide how the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) will use around EUR 6 billion of European taxpayers’ money for ocean-related activities between 2021 and 2027.
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