The European Commission welcomes the agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) proposal, worth €33.7 billion, as part of the next long-term EU budget 2021-2027. The Connecting Europe Facility programme supports investment in Europe's transport, energy and digital infrastructure networks. It will support the twin green and digital transition, by contributing to the ambitious targets for the European Green Deal and the Digital Decade.

Find the full press release here!

The Board of Directors of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) approved the Bank’s first Climate Change Strategy  that represents the vision and approach to addressing climate change over the next ten-year period and beyond.

The Strategy defines a more purposeful role for the Bank in supporting its shareholders in both mitigating and coping with the impacts of climate change mainly by shifting the financing priorities to more climate positive operations and increasing climate co-benefit potential in its operations.  By doing so, the Bank intends to better align its financing with the Member States’ climate priorities.

The IV Strategic Plan of the Port of Barcelona, recently presented, includes a projection on the maritime traffic trends in Europe for 2040. PortEconomics member Peter de Langen analyze these trends two decades ahead to establish long-term traffic forecasts. 

DigiCirc (@DigiCirc) is an #H2020 #I INNOSUP project that aims to boost the #circulareconomy using digital tools by supporting innovative #SMEs in the development and marketing of solutions based on circular value chains through 3 acceleration programs on the following themes: "#Circularcities", "#BlueEconomy" and "#Bioeconomy".

The #circulareconomy considers the entire life cycle of a product from its production, through its consumption, to the management of the waste produced. It responds to multiple challenges such as dependence on increasingly scarce resources, lack of waste disposal, the resilience of an ecosystem and its economic attractiveness, etc.

In relation with #BlueEconomy, #CircularEconomy aims to eliminate the footprint of human activities that take place both offshore and inland on both marine and coastal environments.

How to reduce that impact through #digitaltechnologies and #CircularEconomy? 

In order to define the current challenges of #BlueEconomy that will be included in the call for projects, DigiCirc would like to collect the opinions of the different key actors of the market (local authorities, companies, population, etc.) with the next questionnaire .

Feel free to contact DIgiCirc for any question on the project or the open calls!!

A practical guide for financial institutions to lead a sustainable ocean recovery

This seminal guidance is a market-first practical toolkit for financial institutions to pivot their activities towards financing a sustainable blue economy.

Designed for banks, insurers and investors, the guidance outlines how to avoid and mitigate environmental and social risks and impacts, as well as highlighting opportunities, when providing capital to companies or projects within the blue economy. 

Five key ocean sectors are explored, chosen for their established connection with private finance: seafood, shipping, ports, coastal and marine tourism and marine renewable energy, notably offshore wind. 

Download the guide and recommendations

The shipping industry is increasingly adopting new IoT technologies and solutions, creating opportunities to digitally connect ships. Among the technologies being implemented are: the adoption of blockchain, the use of data analytics for ship optimisation and the introduction of purpose-built maritime IoT connectivity services. One of the strongest value points for maritime IoT is that it can provide economic and operational benefits to all parts of the maritime ecosystem, including equipment manufacturers, classification societies, service providers, shipyards, shipowners, regulators, fleet managers, charterers and investors .
Read the news on rivieramm.com

The technological and technical innovation taking place in the world of offshore floating wind energy has led to the creation of turbines capable of providing 14,000 kW of power output. Current developments in offshore floating wind power generation combined with the stability technology of water tankers, allow ultra-large turbines providing propulsion to ships. Future research will need to develop methods by which to add low-drag mobility to floating wind turbines in a way that assists ship propulsion. Ships propelled by such technology could likely see service on trans-Pacific routes and trans-Atlantic routes.
Read the news on maritime-executive.com

National Hubs (NH) are key elements of the Black Sea Assistance Mechanism and are established in each 
participating country. NHs are staffed with national experts on maritime and marine issues and function under 
the steer of the central team. Their role is to raise awareness of the opportunities created by the CMA and to 
establish dialogue and active exchange between national key stakeholders. 

In close liaison with the central team, the NHs establish network partnerships on thematic areas and contribute 
to the CMA goals and priorities by analysing barriers, promoting the CMA thanks to a dedicated communication 
stream, supporting national stakeholders in projects and organising dedicated national events. 

Feel free to contact them for any development on Blue Economy in your country!

According to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), shipping contributes almost 3% of annual carbon dioxide emissions. In 2018, delegates agreed to reduce emissions by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050, so alternative fuels, for example ammonia, must be found.
This colourless fuel emits no carbon dioxide when burned, is abundant and common and can be produced using renewable electricity, water and air. It can also be used in fuel cells and internal combustion engines and, unlike hydrogen, does not need to be stored in high-pressure tanks or cryogenic dewars. For all these reasons, ammonia (NH 3 ) is gaining favour in the global maritime industry, so much so that shipowners and industry analysts say they expect ammonia to play a key role in the decarbonisation of cargo ships.
Read the news on spectrum.ieee.org

The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund launches a new call to support the sustainable development of the blue economy SMEs across the European Union. The call for proposals constitutes one of the many stepping stones to the European Union’ Green Deal goals. Under the Blue Economy Window call, the SMEs can apply as single entities or consortia. The overall budget is €20 million.

Under the 2020 call, organisations can get up to 70% co-funding for their projects with an average EU contribution between €700.000 and € 2.500.000. Any for-profit SME based in the EU (single participant or a member of a consortium) can apply. The deadline of the call is 16 February 2021.

Link : https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/news/blue-economy-window-call-just-launched

Six years after the first Union for Mediterranean Ministerial Declaration on Blue Economy, Ministers adopted on 2 February a new declaration, firmly committing to cooperate closely and address joint challenges in key blue economy sectors.

They agree to promote transformative policies and tools such as maritime clusters or maritime spatial planning, and support the overall shift towards low-emission technologies and circular blue economy. New joint activities and projects will be set up on a wide range of issues, including “blue skills”, marine litter, marine renewable energies and nature-based tourism.

In view of the preparation of the Interreg NEXT Black Sea Basin Programme, a Territorial Analysis for the eligible area has been prepared and the outcome was discussed during the meeting in December of the Joint Programming Committee (JPC).

The decision was to launch a 1st round of public consultations with the stakeholders in order to validate the preliminary conclusions regarding the Policy Objectives and Interreg Specific Objectives revealed as relevant to be supported.

Therefore, the consultations are now open and the stakeholders are invited to provide their opinions by filling in a questionnaire, which can be accessed at the following link https://blacksea-cbc.net/interreg-next-bsb-2021-2027/have-your-say-on-the-interreg-next-black-sea-basin-programme-2021-2027/

The Territorial Analysis and a summary of it in PPT can be accessed here https://blacksea-cbc.net/interreg-next-bsb-2021-2027/joint-paper-on-interreg-next-strategic-programming/