With a 2030 target, the EU Mission "Restore our Ocean and Waters" aims to protect and restore the health of our ocean and waters through research and innovation, citizen engagement and blue investments. The Mission’s new, systemic approach will address the ocean and waters as one and play a key role in achieving climate neutrality and restoring nature.
The Mission supports regional engagement and cooperation through so-called area-based “lighthouses”. Mission lighthouses will be research and innovation project portfolios, hubs for the development, demonstration and deployment of new solutions in major sea/river basins. In the first phase, there will be four Mission lighthouses at basin scale in the Atlantic-Arctic, the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic and North Sea, and the Danube river basin.
EU Missions are a novelty of the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. They are a new way to bring concrete solutions to some of our greatest challenges. You will find more information in the Mission Ocean and Waters service portal: mission-ocean-and-waters-service-portal.
Join the Mission Charter
The Charter of the EU Mission "Restore our Ocean and Waters 2030" calls for joining efforts to achieve the three objectives of the Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030 to:
- Protect and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, in line with the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030
- Prevent and eliminate pollution of our ocean, seas and waters, in line with the EU Action Plan Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil
- Make the sustainable blue economy carbon-neutral and circular, in line with the proposed European Climate Law and the holistic vision enshrined in the Sustainable Blue Economy Strategy.
To reach these objectives the Mission is also putting in place two enablers:
- Digital Ocean and Water Knowledge System
- Public mobilisation and engagement.
This Charter is non-binding and open to any public or private interested parties You can contribute by pledging actions to co-design, propose and implement policies, programmes, projects or initiatives that will contribute to the restoration of our ocean and waters.
By adhering to the Charter, you will be able to access services and tools the Mission Ocean and Waters will deploy, best practices from previous projects as well as tools to empower citizens to take action. You will become part of the Mission community and be involved in major Mission fora and events, allowing you to network with other participating communities.
Mission Ocean and Waters Actions
550 actions
| Name of organisation | End date of the action | Title of the action | List of Partners | Type of action proposed | Basin coverage | Budget allocated for the action | Website link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perez Sala school | 20/06/25 | VIRTUES PROJECT CLEAN UP DAY DAYS ON THE OCEAN |
submon (NGO) Catalan waste agency |
Education and training | Mediterranean Sea | 10 | Link |
| Bremen Society for Natural Sciences | 20/09/24 | ICYMARE 2024 BREMEN |
University of Bremen |
Education and training | Cross-basin | 30000 | Link |
| Instituto de Investigação em Ciências do Mar - OKEANOS, Universidade dos Açores | 31/12/24 | Scientific survey at Condor seamount MPA in the Azores | Research and innovation | Atlantic/Arctic coast | 0 | Link | |
| Ebssma Azul | 30/06/25 | The Ocean we need for the Future we want |
Clube Naval de Santa Maria |
Citizen engagement, citizens-science... | Atlantic/Arctic coast | 4000 | |
| A'Pelago Experience Ab | 16/08/24 | A'Pelago Initiative 2024 |
More information available in our channels soon. |
Citizen engagement, citizens-science... | Baltic/North Sea | 0 | Link |
Mission Charter dashboard
The Mission Charter dashboard below is a visualisation tool on existing Mission Charter actions.
It serves the following purposes:
- Provide publicly accessible data on the scope of Mission Charter actions
- Produce visualisation on Mission Charter actions
- Enable interactive access for users to identify relevant actions