Ireland has a major involvement in marine research policy for the EU, writes Dick Ahlstrom
There has never been a better time to advance the cause of marine and maritime research. Our ocean resource needs to be used properly for the betterment of society, but with climate change posing such a threat research is needed more than ever.
So argues the chief executive officer of the Marine Institute, Dr Peter Heffernan. Recently he chaired the final session of the EurOCEAN 2007 conference which took place in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Attended by more than 160 marine scientists and policy makers from 15 EU coastal member states, the meeting called for the development of a comprehensive European marine science and technology strategy, in a document tagged the "Aberdeen Declaration".
The goal is to implement a well funded, strongly targeted marine research policy, explains Heffernan. The development of such a unified policy has been Heffernan's ambition at least since the EurOCEAN2004 conference, hosted by the Marine Institute as part of Ireland's EU Presidency.
Ireland has had a considerable impact on the general formation of EU marine research policy, particularly in the 7th Framework Programme. Part of this stems from the development of our own national policy, "Sea Change, A Marine Knowledge, Research and Innovation Strategy for Ireland", says Hefferenan.
This has provided a template for EU policy makers to use in the development of an overarching community policy for the marine.
"Commentators at the Aberdeen meeting viewed the Irish strategy as being the type of programme needed at an European level," he says. "They see Ireland has having travelled the road that Europe will take for a European plan."
Concerns over the impact of overfishing but also the uncertainties related to climate change have been powerful drivers for agreement on the document, he says. This point was also made at the meeting by the EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Dr Joe Borg.
"Sea-related human activities and climate change are combining to pose severe threats to marine ecosystems," Borg stated in Aberdeen.
"These two major challenges require complex responses of paramount political importance. We need to ensure that the decisions we make today are the best possible to secure the wealth and welfare of future generations. We strongly believe that science and technology hold the key and can allow us to reconcile the economic growth generated by sea-based activities with environmental sustainability."
But what would such a unified policy contain? Heffernan argues that it should define and fund a major programme of research on all aspects of the marine. Yet it must also recognise the broader dimensions of the marine resource.
"Science can't exist in a box," he stated. For this reason an integrated European marine science policy should also include environmental management, maritime and marine governance, spacial planning and of course climate change.
The challenge will be to blend protection of the marine environment with sustainable commercial development of the marine resource, while also incorporating a response to climate change.
We won't have to wait long for an EU response. The Commission is due to give a "considered response" to the past year's consultation period on the marine policy Green Paper in October and this will go forward for discussion with member states, Heffernan explains.
"The key first step in the development of such a strategy is a foresight exercise," he believes. He is optimistic that one way or another a comprehensive EU policy will emerge. "I do believe there is a powerful momentum behind this."