Brest Declaration noted by the Minister of Maritime Affairs at the One Ocean summit

Portugal backs the initiative of creating an intergovernmental organization to develop the "digital ocean" in a harmonized way, transforming the Mercator Ocean International into an intergovernmental structure. This subject led to the Brest Declaration, signed at the One Ocean summit held in the city of Brest, in France. The Portuguese Minister of Maritime Affairs attended the conference and highlighted the importance of updated and shared data and operational information for the proper management of marine resources.

"Last year, when Portugal held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, we promoted the approval of the Council Conclusions, highlighting knowledge of the oceans as one of the four pillars for the development of a sustainable ocean economy. We know that in order to develop this knowledge, it is essential that we have accurate prediction instruments and suitable digital information" the Minister of Maritime Affairs said, when closing the session where this subject was discussed by the heads of several European countries.

The Brest Declaration was signed by the heads of the maritime areas of France, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

"The Portuguese marine science community, which is globally renowned for its contribution to ocan knoweldge, also supported this initiative strongly", Ricardo Serrão Santos added. He gave as three national examples of this harmonization effort the Portuguese Sea and Atmosphere Institute, the Hydrographic Institute and the Air Centre.

The next steps will lead to changing the Mercator Ocean International’s legal status, the European leader of the digital ocean and ocean operational prediction. It already operates a maritime monitoring service under the Copernicus Programme, in a European Commission delegation, since 2014, as well as contributing to the EU’s initiatives under other international bodies. 

Blue economy with renewed potential

The Minister of Maritime Affairs was the keynote speaker of the "Blue Investment, public-private partnerships for the Ocean" seminar in this summit, which is another step in the international discussion on the way towards the UN Oceans Conference to be held in Lisbon from 27 June to July. The role of the National Maritime Strategy for 2021-2030 and the RRF, with 252 million euros to drive the national blue economy, based on knowledge and dialogue with all stakeholders, were noted as strong signs of Portugal’s leading edge in the international panorama.

Ricardo Serrão Santos offered the example of the creation of the fund of funds "Portugal Blue" in 2021 to encourage funding of the blue economy and mitigate some of the risks by private investors when investing in Portuguese companies in the maritime sector.

"In the last years, the ocean economy in Portugal has grown almost double that of the national economy. Blue investment is crucial for the ocean we want and need. This has been underlined at several fora, including the Ocean Panel, to which Portugal belongs, and will be underlined at the UN Oceans Conference in Lisbon, which will be co-hosted with Kenya in June this year", the Minister recalled.

"The Ocean Panel is an increasingly relevant initiative in the ocean field due to the diversity of the countries that make it up, the fact that it includes all the ocean basins and covers more than 30% of the planet’s exclusive economic zones", he added.

The summit in Brest was the stage for President Emmanuel Macron to announce that France has officially joined the Ocean Panel, which now includes 16 Member States representing 46% of the world’s coastal areas, 42% of the Exclusive Economic Zones, 25% of fisheries and 20% of ships. They are: Australia, Canada, Chile, USA, Fiji, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Namibia, Norway, Palau, Portugal, and Kenya. 

Bilateral meetings

The Minister of Maritime Affairs was with the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in the high-level segment of the last day of the summit, as well as at a bilateral meeting between the Portuguese Head of State and the US’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry.

Ricardo Serrão Santos also held bilateral meetings with other members of government, namely a working lunch with France’s Minister of Maritime Affairs, Annick Girardin.  At a meeting with the British Minister of State for the Pacific and the International Environment, Lord Zac Goldsmith, and at another with the US Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the Department of State, Monica Medina, the issues of illegal, undeclared and unregulated fishing and the UN Oceans Conference to be held in Lisbon at the end of June were paramount.