EU and Canada secure €211 million for ocean observation activities

Sept 23 – The European Commission and Canada have secured at least €211 million ($240 million) in funding pledges for a newly launched ocean observation initiative, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday at the UN General Assembly in New York.

The OceanEye International Alliance for the Global Ocean Observing System, which so far comprises 30 country members and the European Union, aims to support safe navigation, weather forecasting, climate prediction, coastal protection and the naval economy.

• “We must listen to the ocean and we must protect it much more. And yet, ocean observation is under huge pressure. The global network that provides this data faces a critical funding shortfall,” von der Leyen said.

• She said the EU had increased its funding for ocean observation activities with a seed round of €92 million, while Canada’s Carney said that his country would spend 82 million Canadian dollars ($58 million) over five years for this purpose.

• The funding will support the observing networks by developing technologies, as well as adding more equipment in the high seas and in space such as sensors and satellites.

($1 = 0.8780 euros)

($1 = 1.4100 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega, Editing by Timothy Heritage)