BRUSSELS — The European Union announced a 92 million euro ($107 million) investment package named OceanEye on Wednesday. The initiative aims to expand the EU's ocean monitoring network using underwater drones and ocean-focused satellites.
The EU plans to monitor 35 percent of the global maritime network by 2035. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stated, "This is about using science and good governance to understand our ocean and secure our future."
Oceans cover approximately 70 percent of Earth's surface. They produce oxygen and absorb greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Twenty-two of the 27 EU member states maintain coastlines along the Baltic Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Black Sea, or the Mediterranean Sea.
Pierre-Yves Le Traon, Scientific Director of Mercator Ocean International, said, "Europe needs to do more." He added, "Knowledge is essential if we want to manage the ocean. We really have to be very active for the monitoring and protecting of the ocean because the ocean matters for to everyone: for life at sea, for life on Earth."
Odran Corcoran, Policy Advisor for Oceana, said, "Europe does not just need more ocean data; it needs data that closes biodiversity and seabed knowledge gaps."
The OceanEye funding will support private oceanic technology incubators. It will also support established organizations such as the Global Ocean Observing System, through which global ocean monitoring efforts are coordinated. The Mercator Ocean Institute is constructing a real-time, virtual-reality representation of Earth's oceans, named the Digital Twin Ocean.