Barcelona will host a UNESCO world headquarters for the oceans

BarcelonaBarcelona will host the only Ocean Decade Collaborating Center (DCC) on sustainable ocean economy, a project within the United Nations strategy to revolutionize ocean science, which the City Council will share with the Port of Barcelona and the Generalitat (Catalan government). The office will report to the Barcelona Capital Nautical Foundation and will be located at its facilities on the Moll de Llevant. This was announced this Thursday by the Mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni, after UNESCO confirmed that the center will be located in the Catalan capital at least until 2030, the end of the Ocean Decade.

In this way, Barcelona will become the first city to lead one of the ten challenges set by the United Nations for the defense of the marine ecosystem. Specifically, the office will be dedicated to challenge number four, which refers to the development of a "sustainable and equitable" ocean economy. Among the objectives of the new center are: to establish itself as a think tank global blue economy, constitute "the largest global repository" of projects applicable to the economic development of the oceans, build an international public-private network of experts on the blue economy, and promote international events. It also aims to consolidate an impact investment fund for the blue economy.

Just over a year ago, during the opening session of the Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona, ​​​​Collboni presented the Catalan capital's candidacy to host an Ocean Decade Collaborative Centre for the Blue Economy. An objective that has now been achieved thanks to the collaboration between the City Council, the Port of Barcelona and the Generalitat (Catalan Government) with scientific partners such as the Spanish National Research Council, through its Institute of Marine Sciences, and BlueNetCat and the Maritime R&D&I network of Catalonia. They have also had the support of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

This Thursday, Collboni emphasized that the city wants to promote innovation in key sectors linked to the blue economy and highlighted that, although the new center will be international, it also aims to have "a significant local impact." Collboni also stressed that the oceans are "great allies" against the climate emergency and concluded that they must contribute to urban resilience, while the center opens doors to economic development in this sector.

As part of the presentation of the new center, Collboni also announced this Thursday the creation of a working group to promote measures to "preserve and regenerate" Barcelona's coastline through a strategic plan to achieve 30% marine space, thus continuing a line of action that began in 2020 with the installation of structures for the generation of marine life off the Dic de Recer.

In turn, Julian Barbieri, global coordinator of the Ocean Decade and head of UNESCO's marine policy and regional coordination section, argued that it is necessary to implement science-based policies, create regulatory frameworks, and promote international cooperation. All of this, he said, is aimed at achieving a "more sustainable ocean for all."

A growing sector

According to data provided by Barcelona City Council, the blue economy sector already represents 4.3% of GDP and 1.4% of employment in the city. It includes economic activities such as maritime transport and logistics, port activity, fishing and marine biotechnology, the nautical and sports sector, tourism, construction, and maintenance. In Catalonia, it represents a turnover of €15 billion (3.3% of the total for Catalonia), a gross added value of €3.8 billion (1.7% of Catalonia), and employs 104,000 people (2.9% of the total for Catalonia).