Seabed 2030 Signs New MOU with REV Ocean

Seabed 2030 Project Director Jamie McMichael-Phillips and REV Ocean CEO Nina Jensen at the virtual signing ceremony.

The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with REV Ocean, to work together to advance understanding of the ocean floor and support the United Nation’s Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.



Seabed 2030 is a collaborative project between The Nippon Foundation and GEBCO to inspire the complete mapping of the world’s ocean by 2030, and to compile all bathymetric data into the freely available GEBCO Ocean Map. GEBCO is a joint project of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), and is the only organization with a mandate to map the entire ocean floor.



REV Ocean is a not-for-profit company created with one overarching purpose and ambition – to make our oceans healthy again. Established in Norway in 2017, REV Ocean’s mission is committed to recovering the negative pressures currently affecting the oceans with a particular focus on dealing with the issues of plastic pollution, climate change, and the environmental impacts of fishing and overfishing.



The MOU will see REV Ocean contribute bathymetric data to Seabed 2030, as well as promote practices in technological innovation, infrastructure and solutions for ocean mapping and bathymetric data management challenges.



“Collaborative working, on an international scale, is vital to achieving our goal of mapping the ocean floor by 2030,” said Jamie McMichael-Phillips, Director of Seabed 2030. “This new partnership is a testimony to that – and we look forward to working together with REV Ocean to identify ways to increase ocean mapping activity that in turn supports wider efforts that promote the ocean’s health.”



Speaking at the virtual signing event, CEO of REV Ocean Nina Jensen said: “A complete map of the seabed will play a significant part in helping restore the health of the ocean, and in reducing the negative pressures it faces, including those posed by climate change. REV Ocean is therefore proud to partner with Seabed 2030, and to play a part in the monumental challenge of creating the first ever definitive map of the world ocean floor.”



All data collected and shared with the Seabed 2030 Project will be included in the GEBCO global grid – the most complete bathymetric dataset of the world’s ocean floor. By 2030, the grid will represent a complete map to coincide with the conclusion of the UN Decade of Ocean Science.
 

Find out more about the UN Decade of Ocean Science.