Our Ocean plays a key role in enabling life on Earth, and is increasingly also playing a key role in helping us to address the global crises we are facing. It is critical for us to better understand both of these roles, and the impact that playing them has on the Ocean in turn. EMB Policy Brief No. 13 'Navigating the Future VI: The Ocean's role in addressing global crises’ presents the main research and policy recommendations to help us to take that understanding forward.
Policy Briefs
Coastal systems face increasing and interacting pressures due to climate change and various human activities. Building resilience of coastal ecosystems and human communities is essential for them to persist, adapt or transform whilst maintaining their essential functions, and to safeguard life, ecosystems and economies. EMB Policy Brief No. 12 ‘Requirements for Coastal Resilience in Europe’ presents key policy, scientific and community recommendations for building coastal resilience and enhancing the capacity to cope with impacts from coastal pressures.
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.
Today, our society depends on critical coastal and marine infrastructure such as ports, telecommunication cables and renewable energy installations. With increasing human activities conducted in the marine environment and an increasing population living at the coast, society is becoming more exposed and vulnerable to the impacts of marine geohazards. This Policy Brief raises awareness about dormant geological risks in European coastal regions, and makes recommendations for future research and policy. It summarises the main messages and recommendations from the recent EMB Position Paper Nº26 on “Marine Geohazards: Safeguarding Society and the Blue Economy from a Hidden Threat”, published in December 2021.
This Policy Brief focuses on in situ Ocean observations and highlights their benefits, funding and governance challenges, and the investment needed for their transformation and sustainability. This document is the result of an ad hoc Working Group established by the European Marine Board to address this topic, in light of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, and the start of Age of the Digital Ocean.
This Policy Brief highlights the inextricable links between oceans health and human health. It presents the main challenges in moving towards a European policy framework that supports and enables Oceans and Human Health to be addressed in a holistic manner. It highlights the research, training, data, monitoring and funding needs to enable such a policy framework to be developed. This publication was produced together with the EU-funded SOPHIE project.
This Policy Brief outlines why we need research vessels, noting the multiple roles they play in supporting marine science and ocean observing. It presents an overview of the current European fleet and its capabilities, and highlights the importance of transnational access within this context. It also briefly outlines the concerns around training for vessel crew, marine technicians and shore-based staff. It then presents the main recommendations of EMB Position Paper 25. This publication summarises the main messages and recommendations of the recent EMB Position Paper 25 on “Next Generation European Research Vessels: Current Status and Foreseeable Evolution”, which was produced in collaboration with the European Research Vessel Operators (ERVO) community.
The European Marine Board (EMB) Policy Brief No6 ‘Navigating the Future V: Recommendations for the Ocean Decade’ provides recommendations on the science needed to achieve the societal outcomes of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
Policy brief introduces what Marine Citizen Science has to offer to marine science research, marine policy and society.
Policy brief showcases the latest scientific and technological advancements in marine biotechnology and explores future innovation.