The European Commission has announced its allocation of over €106 million for 18 new projects dedicated to the EU Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters.’ These initiatives will play a vital role in achieving climate neutrality and restoring nature by safeguarding and revitalizing biodiversity in aquatic environments, mitigating pollution, fostering a sustainable blue economy, and developing the European Digital Twin of the Ocean. The projects involve the collaboration of more than 370 beneficiaries from 36 countries, including SMEs, research institutions, local authorities, schools, and businesses. All EU Member States will participate in the projects, spanning from the Baltic and North Sea to the Danube River, Mediterranean Sea, and the Atlantic.
By investing in nature and local communities, the projects aim to deliver various benefits to the ocean and waters, including:
- Protection and restoration of degraded coastal and marine habitats.
- Rehabilitation of wetlands, flood plains, coastal wetlands, and salt marshes in the Danube region.
- Efforts to prevent, minimize, and remediate chemical pollution in the Mediterranean Sea.
- Introduction of sustainable algae-based products and solutions to the market in the Baltic and the North Sea.
- Innovative solutions to combat litter, plastics, and microplastics in European rivers.
- Reduction of marine litter and pollution through the use of smart and low environmental impact fishing gears.
- Integration of biodiversity monitoring data into the Digital Twin Ocean.
- Creation of an e-library of marine and freshwater species.
- Development of local community-driven business models for ocean farming.
These projects are part of the Horizon Europe programme, designed for the period 2021-2027, and represent EU Missions’ commitment to addressing some of society’s most pressing challenges. Launched in September 2021, the EU Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters’ strives to protect and restore the health of marine environments and waters by 2030 through research, innovation, citizen engagement, and investments in the blue economy. The Mission encompasses ocean and waters as a whole and plays a pivotal role in achieving climate neutrality and restoring nature.
To ensure regional engagement and cooperation, the Mission has established area-based ‘Lighthouses’ in major sea and river basins, including the Atlantic-Arctic, Mediterranean Sea, Baltic-North Sea, and Danube-Black Sea. These ‘Lighthouses’ serve as platforms for piloting, demonstrating, developing, and implementing the Mission’s activities across EU seas and river basins.
The selection of today’s projects followed a call for proposals launched in 2022, and the projects will be managed by the European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_23_3608