Swan Hellenic pens an agreement to restore the oceans by 2030

Swan Hellenic’s cruise ship SH Vega hosted the signing ceremony of an agreement by which Swan Hellenic, the Philippe Cousteau Foundation and SDG4MED engage to contribute jointly to the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030.”

Under the agreement, Swan Hellenic has committed to provide its fleet for use as “ships of opportunity”, enabling the foundations’ scientists to gauge the health of our Blue Planet in its most remote and pristine regions, including Arctic, Antarctica and Africa coasts.

In late 2021, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU mandated the Commission to accelerate Ocean and Water health conservation and restoration worldwide. The resulting EU Mission is a coordinated effort to pool the necessary financial, scientific and operational resources.

The three organisations were among the first in the world to endorse the Mission Charter, which aims to create a sustainable, carbon-neutral, circular blue economy that plays a key role in achieving climate neutrality, since the oceans are major carbon sinks, protect biodiversity and foster economic prosperity, being expected to generate €2.5 trillion (AUD$4 trillion) per year by 2030. The Mission 2030 targets include a 30 per cent reduction in marine microplastics and the deployment of EU carbon neutral, circular blue economy communities.

L-R: Mario Dogliani (President SDG4MED), Andrea Zito (CEO Swan Hellenic), Herminio Menendez Rodriquez (President Philippe Cousteau Foundation) – Supplied

In a message of congratulations to mark the signing, Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, Institutional President of the Philippe Cousteau Foundation, remarked: “It gives me great pleasure to see our Foundation and country involved in this landmark agreement.

“It is not only an important early milestone in the EU Mission to help restore the balance between human activity and the health of our planet. It is also an important commitment to the values of peace, as recognised by the involvement of the World Peace Forum, including directly in the person of its President, José Félix Bentz Oliver. As such it is a source both of inspiration and of hope.”

All three organisations in fact already have their own individual Mission Charter commitments, with the Philippe Cousteau Foundation promoting ocean literacy in schools and among fishermen and seafarers, SDG4MED making the “LIFE4MEDECA Knowledge Center” available to municipalities to pursue a shared action plan, and Swan Hellenic continuously investing in the latest green technologies and operations.

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Philippe Cousteau Foundation SDG4MED swan hellenic