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  • Publication | 2022

Setting the course for a sustainable blue planet - Joint Communication on the EU’s International Ocean Governance agenda

Global Food and Nutrition Security

The Communication identifies several key priorities:

  • Halt and reverse the loss of marine biodiversity by concluding an ambitious UN High Seas Treaty (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction) as soon as possible and reaching the goal of 30% of Marine Protected Areas by 2030;

  • Protect the seabed by prohibiting deep-sea mining, which destroys the seabed, and regulating, where necessary, the use of fishing gear that are most harmful to biodiversity;

  • Ensure sustainable fisheries with a zero-tolerance approach against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing and with compliance with international rules and standards. The EU also welcomes the meaningful multilateral agreement contributing to the protection of the oceans that was achieved in the WTO on 17 June this year, after 21 years of negotiation. The EU is fully committed to complete as soon as possible the agreement with the elements not yet agreed;

  • Fight climate change for a healthy ocean, including through maritime transport measures on the EU and global level as well as decarbonising the fishing sector to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels;

  • Fight marine pollution notably by concluding an ambitious legally binding Global Plastic Agreement by 2024;

  • Making the transition to a global sustainable blue economy, notably scaling up investment in ocean health and in the transformation to a sustainable blue economy via the EU ‘BlueInvest' investment platform, and improving integrated maritime planning;

  • Ensure security and safety at sea by monitoring closely and responding swiftly to maritime security threats, cooperating with its partners such as NATO, as well as addressing forced labour following International Labour Organization rules;

  • Build up ocean knowledge by creating an intergovernmental science-policy interface for ocean sustainability, aiming at establishing an Intergovernmental Panel for Ocean Sustainability (IPOS), promoting ocean diplomacy and literacy;

  • Invest in the ocean – up to €1 billion in 2021-2027 for ocean and coastal biodiversity and climate, including for high seas, and €350 million a year on ocean research through Horizon Europe 2021-2027 programme.