Book Description

The International Ocean Governance (IOG) Agenda for the future of our oceans has contributed since 2016 to a concerted and rules-based approach to improve the governance framework, reduce pressures, facilitate a more sustainable blue economy worldwide, and strengthen international research and data. The progress report published in 20192 demonstrated the EU's strong commitment to ocean governance with many of the Agenda's deliverables completed or nearing completion. In addition, it is recognised as one of the "key examples" of EU policies creating multilateralism in the report on "The European Union's Global Strategy: Three years on, moving forward". Despite progress by the EU and the global community to improve ocean governance, further action is necessary in light of the scientific evidence on the worrying status of the ocean and its resources. Action can build on multilateral dialogue, international cooperation and on strong partnerships to deliver on global sustainability commitments pertaining to the ocean. The Council Conclusions on Oceans and Seas adopted in 20193 support the development of the IOG Agenda. The European Parliament's resolution on the European Green Deal in 20204 highlights the importance of fostering the role of the EU as a global leader in ocean governance and urges the Commission to give the Green Deal a "blue" dimension. Likewise, NGOs are urging further action for improving international ocean governance for "Life below Water" and call for achieving a healthy ocean by 2030. As part of the response, the Commission is already working on a new Communication on sustainable blue economy that will be adopted in Spring 2021. President von der Leyen mandated Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for Environment, Ocean and Fisheries to make Europe a leader on international ocean governance in the UN, as well as in other regional and international forums. Against this background, the European Commission and the European External Action Service launched a targeted consultation to assess development needs and options for the EU's IOG Agenda. The consultation aimed to identify relevant actions in light of today's challenges and opportunities to deliver global sustainability objectives for the ocean, in particular, the Sustainable Development Goal on the ocean (SDG14) under the 2030 Agenda, in support of the European Green Deal. The consultation complements the International Ocean Governance (IOG) Forum that the European Commission launched in association with the European External Action Service with a virtual event on 22-24 April 2020. The IOG Forum brings stakeholder and experts together to support the development of the EU's IOG Agenda. The results of this consultation feed the work of the forum notably the discussions on draft recommendations for action at its second virtual meeting on 14-16 December 2020. Final recommendations will be presented at the 3rd virtual meeting of the IOG Forum on 20 April 2021. The consultation gathered input from a wide array of stakeholders, notably governments, international organisations, NGOs, financial institutions, academic, scientific, social and economic partners, within and beyond Europe. This report presents a summary of the contributions received in the consultation. Views summarised in this document are stakeholder views. They do not represent the views of the European Commission or the European External Action Service.