EU Ocean Week - how do we best use, govern and protect our greatest asset - Main contents

This week, from 7-13 November, there are three major events all about the oceans. Together they form ‘EU Ocean Week’. 70% of our planet is blue. This is an enormous percentage. We need to recognise that it is time for our policies to reflect this enormity.

On Tuesday, we celebrate the launch of the Ocean Energy road map (LINK http://www.oceanenergy-europe.eu/oee-2016) . This provides a path that, by 2050, would allow 10% of Europe’s energy needs to be provided by wave and tidal power.

On Thursday I will launch the European Commission's Communication on Ocean Governance. This is a call for international action to bring our rules for the high seas into the 21st century.

And on Saturday I will speak at Ocean Action Day during the COP 22 http://www.cop22.org/ In Marrakesh, Morocco.

These 3 events together are the essence of the European Commission’s oceans strategy: Helping to make rules that provide protection so that we can help to sustainably use the ocean.

The ocean absorbs 25% of the world’s CO2. This is central to climate regulation. One billion people depend on seafood as their main source of protein. Without the ocean, international trade would simply not function. The strategic importance is beyond question.

And yet we face huge and immediate threats. The oceans are becoming more acidic. Plastic fragments are choking our seawater. Fish, sea mammals and plants are dying in vast numbers. Piracy threatens the livelihoods and sometimes even the lives of honest fishermen. Our basic data of the ocean floor is lacking.

At the start of this Commission, President Juncker gave me a mandate to help improve Ocean Governance. We recognised that the only way to improve the ocean is through international cooperation

What we need is an international effort to bring our global rules for the ocean into the 21st century. The last 12 months, which saw the Paris Agreement on climate action, and the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) prove that the political will is there. And that is precisely the message that I will bring to the third and final event of EU Ocean Week. At COP 22 in Marrakesh, Morocco, I will speak at the Ocean Action Day. I will highlight the role the ocean plays in the regulation of our climate. We have made enormous progress on Climate Action - ratifying the Paris Agreement in 12 months is a stunning success. But we can still do more to highlight the role of our oceans.

A commitment to a sustainable use of the oceans will allow us to develop our blue economy in a way that compliments our environmental obligations.

So that is our ocean week; Energy from, rules for and protection of the blue part of our planet.

This week's proposals are not just an action plan for the European Union - they are an open invitation to our partners around the world. The EU will be hosting the 2017 edition of the international Our Ocean conference in Malta in October next year. This will be an excellent opportunity for the global ocean community to come together and take stock of where we stand - and how we tackle the challenges ahead. I look forward to your feedback over the coming week.