Enhancing climate resilience through marine data science: Blue Partnership between the EU and China

The last decades have seen great strides in strategic engagement by the European Union and China. In the vast and varied arena of global environmental challenges, such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, the EU considers China as an important actor for cooperation. At the same time, China and the EU represent two of the largest ocean economies and they share common interests and commitments towards sustainable ocean management. In this spirit, in July 2018, the EU and China signed the ‘Blue Partnership’, a unique bilateral agreement to improve the international governance of the oceans. The partnership provides a framework for collaboration in areas such as preventing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, fighting against marine pollution, including marine plastic litter and microplastics and conserving and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in the high seas. Cooperation also extends to improving knowledge of the oceans through better ocean literacy, enhanced ocean observation and open science and data to support the shared objective to “ensure effective ocean governance for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and their resources”.

An important manifestation of the Blue Partnership entailed establishing concrete links between European and Chinese experts on ocean data and knowledge exchange via a collaborative project called EMOD-PACE [1] (The EMODnet PArtnership for China and Europe) between the National Marine Data and Information Service of China [2] and the European Marine Observation Data Network [3] (EMODnet). Despite being undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic, from 2020 to 2022, this three-year collaborative project improved global ocean data discoverability, accessibility and interoperability. It generated numerous marine knowledge products supporting sustainable ocean management and international ocean governance.

During the project, EMODnet and NMDIS forged close links working on concrete advances to connect the data services, improve ocean data sharing practices and ocean modelling capacity, and create a range of added-value data products. EMOD-PACE has been lauded as a highly successful international collaboration contributing to global efforts to make sure that ocean data,collected through monitoring and ocean observing activities at large costs, are made FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable) to scientists, engineers and policy advisors from Europe, China and globally. This information and accumulated knowledge are fundamental to advancing the dialogue towards more effective ocean governance, which seeks to ensure sustainable economic activities that conserve and protect the marine environment. The pilot phase of EMOD-PACE assessed bathymetry, chemistry, seabed habitats and physics variables for both European and Chinese marine regions along the sea route connecting Europe and China.

This collaborative project aligns with the global commitments of both the EU and China, with specific targets related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 on ‘life below water’ and, in the EU, the goals of the European Green Deal [4]. By promoting international ocean governance, facilitating access to marine data and sharing expert and scientific knowledge, this partnership contributed to implementing these global commitments.

The EMOD-PACE project demonstrates how global cooperation in ocean data science is important to progress on several bottlenecks that require attention to unlock marine knowledge to address global challenges. The collaboration has maximised interoperability between EU and Chinese marine data services, fostering a shared foundation for enhanced marine open data exchange. The project has also led to establishing a common standard, bilingual information system, serving as a gateway for marine data discovery and access.

Such collective efforts in promoting marine data and information interoperability have addressed global ocean challenges. This work includes advancements in ocean re-analyses and predictions, environmental protection measures and initiatives for climate change adaptation as well as marine biodiversity conservation.

Secondly, the EMODPACE project also advanced the applicability and reliability of ocean forecast and seabed habitats modelling approaches, as well as the development of information products relevant for ocean governance and management. The project’s role in providing reliable information to support efforts for coastal adaptation along the sea route connecting China and Europe was of particular significance. As global sea levels rise, vulnerable coastal communities, cities, and islands face increased threats of inundation and erosion. Investigating the relative and absolute sea level trends for nearly three decades (1993–2019) along the areas of the shipping routes between Europe and China, the project shed light on the challenges posed by the accelerated rising sea level trend. Furthermore, based on sea state analysis fields, the project computed least-CO2 routes emissions, strategically navigating through ports along the EU-China sea route, such as Singapore, Aden, Dubai, Surabaya and Taipei. These routes enhance maritime efficiency and contribute to CO2 savings by avoiding rough seas –a tangible step towards sustainable navigation in the face of environmental challenges.

By focusing on ocean data science to advance science diplomacy, the collaboration has fostered an effective approach to uplift global practices and serve as a blueprint for future collaborations with other regional partners and global players.

This shared knowledge becomes a powerful tool in crafting strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change and adapt to its consequences, as has been demonstrated in the EMOD-PACE bilateral collaboration.

The EU is well placed to harness the wealth of expertise and capabilities from past and ongoing efforts to further strengthen international marine research and innovation cooperation in the domain of ocean data and information management and exchange. The EU-China Blue Partnership provides an excellent framework to build on the ocean data collaboration exisiting between EMODnet and NMDIS, to expand the scope of the partnership in the marine arena, forging alliances with the regional bodies and global organisations and partners to provide a leading contribution. Ultimately, these efforts will benefit the implementation of the UN Ocean Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and in particular its Data and Information Strategy [5].

[1] About EMOD-PACE, European Commission

[2] NMDIS’s Mission

[3] European Marine Observation and Data Network, European Commission

[4] The European Green Deal, European Commission 

[5] Ocean Decade Data & Information Strategy

 The views expressed in this #CriticalThinking article reflect those of the author(s) and not of Friends of Europe.