European efforts to make marine data more accessible

Abstract

Seas and oceans can provide the stimulus needed to get economies moving. They can provide challenging, rewarding jobs that meet the expectations of our young people. They can provide the clean energy we need if we are to avoid a climate catastrophe. They can provide protein for healthy diets. They can provide pharmaceuticals or enzymes from organisms that inhabit the greatest extremes of temperature, light, and pressure encountered by life. There is also a growing global hunger for raw materials that is increasing the economic attractiveness of deep-sea mining. According to a recent report (OECD 2016, p. 13), Looking to 2030, many ocean-based industries have the potential to outperform the growth of the global economy as a whole, both in terms of value added and employment. The projections suggest that be tween 2010 and 2030 on a 'business-as-usual' scenario basis, the ocean economy could more than double its contribution to global value added, reaching over USD 3 trillion.