Blue Carbon ecosystems are a Nature-based Solution that can help mitigate the climate and biodiversity crises, while stabilising livelihoods, protecting coasts, and supporting other societal needs such as food security from the Ocean. EMB Policy Brief No. 11 describes different types and benefits of Blue Carbon ecosystems, and discusses uncertainties and challenges for the conservation and restoration of Blue Carbon ecosystems as a climate change solution. The document also highlights the wider role of the Ocean in mitigating climate change through the carbon cycle, and closes with key research and management recommendations.
EMB publications
In 2022, the EMB Secretariat moved to the brand-new InnovOcean campus in Ostend (Belgium), where many valuable interactions and discussions have already taken place. Throughout the year, EMB organised a range of impactful initiatives, such as the CommOCEAN conference, a Brown Bag Lunch, and the launch of three new foresight publications. EMB also took a new turn by launching 'EMBracing the Ocean', an artist-in-residence programme which stimulated collaboration between Ocean scientists and artists, leading to remarkable artworks that reflect the deep connection between art and ocean sciences. To learn more about EMB’s activities and achievements, dive into the EMB's 2022 Annual Report.
The European Marine Board Secretariat organized a foresight workshop on the sustainability of the ocean observing and forecasting system, supported by the EU Innovation Action EuroSea, on 15-16 March 2023 at the Museum of Natural Sciences, Brussels (Belgium). The workshop aimed to gather key recommendations or considerations for possible future mechanisms to sustainably fund and coordinate ocean observation, prediction and information delivery in Europe.
EMB Future Science Brief No. 10 highlights the most recent science on Ocean oxygen, including causes, impacts and mitigation strategies of Ocean oxygen loss, and whether “every second breath we take comes from the Ocean”. It closes with key policy, management and research recommendations to address Ocean deoxygenation and communicate more accurately about the role of the Ocean in Earth’s oxygen.
EMB Future Science Brief No. 9 provides an overview of the technology and European deployment status in the offshore renewable energy sector. It discusses the environmental and socioeconomic considerations, and presents the key knowledge, research, and capacity gaps that must be addressed to ensure sustainable delivery of the EU Green Deal. It closes with key policy, research, capacity, and data recommendations to take the sector forward.
Impact report for the SOPHIE project Strategic Research Agenda for Oceans and Human Health in Europe, which is a comprehensive overview of the required research and capacity to develop Oceans and Human Health in Europe, and for Policy Brief No. 8 on Policy Needs for Oceans and Human Health, which summarises the policy-relevant recommendations from the Strategic Research Agenda.
Impact report for Future Science Brief No. 6, which outlined recent advances, challenges and opportunities for big data to support marine science.
New Ocean challenges and opportunities fuel the need for enhanced marine and solution-oriented science communication. This Future Science Brief highlights the critical need to strengthen the marine science communication capacity in Europe, as well as develop dedicated training programs, engage in deeper and wider collaboration with stakeholders, and ensure close interaction with the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) and the EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030.
As for every other organization, the year 2020 was marked by the impact from COVID-19. As formulated by our Chair Gilles Lericolais in his foreword to the Annual Report, the search for solutions out of this crisis demonstrates that research is an investment in our future and should be kept at the heart of the EU’s new Framework Programme Horizon Europe. For EMB and our Member organizations, research and innovation are at the heart of our concerns, and this pandemic has brought new or different ways of organizing research activities, collaborating, networking, organising events, and communicating research results. Find out all about our activities in the EMB Annual Report 2020.
Although the impact of the pandemic continued to be noticeable for all, we can look back on a successful 2021 in the end. This year marked the start of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, to which the EMB proudly became the very first Implementing Partner. This news was shared during EMB's 8th Open Forum, organized as a hybrid event in Brussels and online, where a wide variety of Ocean stakeholders were brought together. EMB was able to publish three publications and launch the impact video for the NFV document. Find out all about our activities in the EMB Annual Report 2021.