The Commission announced today 18 new projects which will receive over €106 million to contribute to the EU Mission 'Restore our Ocean and Waters'. The projects gather over 370 beneficiaries from 36 countries, including SMEs, research institutions, local authorities, schools and businesses. They will play a key role in achieving climate neutrality and restoring nature by protecting and restoring biodiversity in waters, cutting pollution, supporting a sustainable blue economy and developing the European Digital Twin of the Ocean. All EU Member States are involved in the projects, with actions from the Baltic and North Sea, through the Danube River, Mediterranean Sea, and across to the Atlantic.
Investing in nature and local communities
The projects will deliver a wide variety of benefits to the ocean and waters, such as:
- Protection and restoration solutions for degraded coastal and marine habitats
- Protection and restoration of wetlands, flood plains, coastal wetlands and salt marshes in the Danube
- Actions to prevent, minimise and remediate chemical pollution in the Mediterranean sea
- Bringing sustainable algae-based products and solutions to the market in the Baltic and the North Sea
- Preventing and eliminating litter, plastics and microplastics – innovative solutions for waste-free European rivers
- Reducing marine litter and pollution by using 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
- Developing local community-driven business models for ocean farming.
More details on the projects, including budget and beneficiaries, can be found in the overview of projects.
Background
Established under the Horizon Europe programme for the years 2021-2027, EU Missions are a new way to bring solutions to some of society's greatest challenges. They have ambitious goals and will deliver tangible results by 2030.
Launched in September 2021, the EU Mission 'Restore our Ocean and Waters' aims to protect and restore the health of our ocean and waters by 2030 through research and innovation, citizen engagement and investments in the blue economy. The Mission addresses the ocean and waters as one and plays a key role in achieving climate neutrality and restoring nature.
The Mission supports regional engagement and cooperation through area-based 'Lighthouses' in major sea and river basins: Atlantic-Arctic, Mediterranean Sea, Baltic-North Sea, and Danube-Black Sea. Mission lighthouses are sites to pilot, demonstrate, develop and deploy the Mission activities across EU seas and river basins.
Today's projects were selected following a call for proposals launched in 2022, including a peer evaluation by independent experts. The projects will be managed by CINEA (European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency).
