The European Union (EU) is pledging to allocate €3.5 billion ($3.71 billion) this year for ocean protection and sustainability initiatives, Virginijus Sinkevicius, EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans, and Fisheries, announced on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
These initiatives, which were unveiled at the annual Our Ocean conference in Athens, include 40 commitments aimed at combating marine pollution, supporting sustainable fisheries, and investing in the blue economy—the sustainable use of marine and freshwater resources.
The EU plans to support 14 investments and one reform in sustainable fisheries in Cyprus, Greece, Poland, and Portugal, worth about €1.9 billion.
An additional €980 million under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) will be for supporting four investments and two reforms to combat marine pollution in Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Italy, and Spain.
The EU is also focusing on helping African countries develop their blue economy. The conference, which has mobilised over 2,160 commitments worth approximately $130 billion since its inception in 2014, is set to announce more than 400 new commitments totaling $10 billion.
