Nearly €220M pledged as EU, Canada launch OceanEye Alliance
Nearly €220 million has been pledged to strengthen global ocean observation through the newly launched OceanEye International Alliance, Qazinform News Agency reports.
According to the European Commission, as part of the initiative, the EU pledged an additional €92 million, while Canada committed C$82 million over five years to expand its ocean observation capabilities.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney launched the OceanEye International Alliance for the Global Ocean Observing System on Sept. 23 in New York during the 81st UN General Assembly High-Level Week. A total of 31 members, including the EU and 30 countries, have joined the alliance.
The pledges include a mix of financial contributions, in-kind support and assets such as research vessels, sensors, drones and data-processing facilities. They will support the maintenance of existing observation platforms, help close critical data gaps, strengthen the Global Ocean Observing System Secretariat and coordination hubs, and support the OceanOPS data-reporting centre.
The Global Ocean Observing System delivers around 120,000 observations per day from 8,000 platforms operated by 64 countries and 17 global observation networks.
These observations support weather and climate forecasting, maritime safety, coastal protection, marine biodiversity and sustainable ocean-based economic activities.
Further pledging opportunities will be offered at COP31, the 12th Our Ocean Conference in Halifax and the 4th UN Ocean Conference in Busan.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Canada could become the EU’s first associate member.