Pallade Veneta - EU eyes 'leadership' role on oceans ahead of UN summit

The 27-nation bloc wants to position itself as a leader in the field and will formally launch the "European Ocean Pact" at next week's conference in the French city of Nice.

But a draft leaked last month was given short shrift by a coalition of environmental groups including Surfrider, WWF, ClientEarth and Oceana -- who saw it as largely rehashing old measures.

"While the document outlines steps towards better enforcement of existing laws," they said in a joint statement, "concrete actions to address the most pressing threats to marine life and biodiversity are currently lacking."

The draft pact acknowledges the need to boost funding to safeguard the oceans, but is light on hard commitments.

Topping the list of measures environmentalists would like to see is an immediate ban on bottom trawling in protected areas -- the subject of a string of court cases -- as well as broader steps to align fishing practices with marine protection.

On the European Commission front, officials have pushed back at the criticism -- indicating the leaked document was an interim draft and suggested stronger measures to come.

- 'Blue economy' to 'blue carbon' -

Forty percent of Europeans live within 50 kilometres (30 miles) of the coast -- though paradoxically the bloc is dependent on imports for 70 of the aquatic food it consumes, according to EU data cited in the draft.

Nevertheless, the so-called "blue economy" linked to the sea supports more than five million jobs and contributes more than 250 billion euros ($285 billion) to the bloc's gross domestic product.

As leaked, the draft pact:

-- vows to update the bloc's 2008 directive on marine environmental policy and promises a new "Blue Carbon" action plan by 2026 to monitor and extend habitats capable of storing carbon dioxide.

-- promises "dedicated attention" to small-scale fisheries and coastal communities that are economically and environmentally vulnerable when marine habitats are degraded.

-- pledges to improve use of the European Satellite Oil Monitoring Service (CleanSeaNet), which serves to alert member states to the presence of pollutants.

Between 2022 and 2023, the CleanSeaNet system identified more than 7,700 possible oil spills -- mostly in Spain, Greece and Italy -- but states acted on fewer than half of all alerts, according to the European Court of Auditors.

When they did act, states confirmed pollution in only seven percent of cases -- often because too much time had elapsed by the time inspection teams arrived on site.

- 'Clear signal' -

After unveiling its roadmap in Brussels, the EU will formally present it at the June 9-13 UN Ocean Conference (UNOC), which is set to draw some 70 heads of state and government to southern France.

The third of its kind, the UN summit seeks to build unity -- and raise 100 billion dollars in new funds -- for marine conservation, in spite of deep divergences over deep-sea mining, plastic trash and overfishing.

One of its aims is to secure the 60 ratifications needed to enact a landmark treaty to protect marine habitats outside national jurisdiction -- with 28 countries on board so far, along with the EU.

The oceans covering 70.8 percent of the globe have absorbed the vast majority of the warming caused by burning fossil fuels and shielded societies from the full impact of greenhouse gas emissions.

But there are alarming symptoms of stress: heatwaves, loss of marine life, rising sea levels, falling oxygen levels and acidification caused by the uptake of excess carbon dioxide.

The EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis said earlier this month the bloc wanted to send "a clear signal of Europe's leadership, commitment and vision" to its partners in Nice.

"The ocean is warming. It is rising. It is acidifying. Pollution from plastics, chemicals, and noise is altering marine ecosystems," Kadis warned.

"The pressures are growing and the need for action is immediate."

E.Magrini--PV