The “Our Ocean” conference in Athens saw the European Union announce initiatives to protect the world’s oceans and promote sustainability. Virginijus Sinkevicius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, emphasized the importance of the ocean, stating that it is part of who we are and our responsibility. The EU has pledged €3.5 billion for initiatives this year to support sustainable fisheries and fight marine pollution.
The initiatives include supporting 14 investments and one reform in sustainable fisheries in Cyprus, Greece, Poland, and Portugal, totaling about €1.9 billion. An additional €980 million from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility will be used in Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Italy, and Spain to support four investments and two reforms to combat marine pollution. The aim of the conference is to promote the “blue economy,” which is defined as the sustainable use of ocean resources to benefit economies, livelihoods, and ocean ecosystem health.
Greece strongly supports the idea of the blue economy due to its geographical location and extensive coastline. With thousands of islands and the longest Mediterranean coastline, Greece plans to present its national strategy on marine biodiversity protection at the conference. Research shows that overfishing and plastic pollution are major threats to the oceans. Plastics entering the oceans could triple by 2040 without further action if conservation efforts are not undertaken urgently.
In addition to these threats, ocean temperatures hit a record high in February due to climate change. This highlights