The Mediterranean may cover less than 1% of the global ocean, but it carries disproportionate weight. According to the publication Depolluting the Mediterranean, it hosts 15% of global maritime traffic and generates 20% of gross marine product. At the same time, it is home to 7.5% of global marine biodiversity – a rich ecosystem under increasing strain. The density of human activity has made the Mediterranean one of Europe’s most polluted seas, and urgent action is needed to redress this imbalance.
BlueMissionMed, the author of the publication and the Coordination and Support Action (CSA) under Mission Ocean and Waters for the Lighthouse of the Mediterranean basin, has spent the past three years turning the Mission’s ambitions into implementable pathways in the region. Its work has supported the Mission’s goals of restoring ecosystems, preventing pollution and enabling a carbon-neutral, circular blue economy. As the CSA concludes in December, it leaves a particularly strong legacy on pollution prevention, aligning closely with the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan, which seeks to cut plastic litter at sea by 50% and microplastics by 30% by 2030.
Throughout its implementation, the CSA has supported a wide range of EU, national and regional projects and initiatives dedicated to achieving these targets, showcasing their solutions, testing their transferability and facilitating matchmaking – reaching more than 50,000 stakeholders across the Mediterranean. It has also established a common collaboration framework, enabling structured exchanges and joint activities with several Horizon Europe Mission Ocean projects active across the Mediterranean – including iMERMAID, Path4Med, INSPIRE, REMEDIES, RHE-MEDiation, SeaClear2.0, SEACURE and TASC-RestoreMed, among others. Together, these collaborations aim to advance solutions for preventing and eliminating pollution and regenerative blue economic models.