States have committed at both the global and regional level to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. The most recent global milestone was the adoption of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in 2022. The GBF sets the global blueprint for action, with ambitious targets such as protecting 30% of land and sea, restoring degraded ecosystems, and improving access to knowledge and data.
At the European level, the European Green Deal of 2019 serves as the EU’s master plan for sustainability. One of its cornerstones is the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, which translates global ambitions into legally binding regional targets for protection, restoration, and sustainable use.
Yet success depends on filling persistent gaps in knowledge and monitoring, especially regarding Europe’s ocean and the drivers of change. To address this, the European Commission established the Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity (KCBD) in 2020. Its mandate is to track progress, integrate data, and identify gaps to measure Europe’s alignment with the GBF. Still, recent assessments show less than half of the Strategy’s targets currently have measurable indicators. In the marine realm, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) faces similar hurdles: fragmented monitoring, scientific uncertainty, and insufficient ecological, social, and economic data.
Looking ahead, the European Ocean Pact, presented by President Ursula von der Leyen at the UN Ocean Conference 2025 in Nice, is set to evolve into a legally binding Ocean Act by 2027. The Pact seeks to address key challenges by strengthening governance and policy coherence. At the same time, the Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO) provides the digital backbone, integrating observation, modelling, forecasting, and knowledge systems across Europe. Together, the Ocean Pact and DTO are designed to close monitoring gaps, strengthen data flows, and align Europe’s biodiversity and marine policies with global frameworks such as the GBF and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and its digital foundation, Ocean Data 2030.
Seadito is proud to be part of this journey!
Author: Rachel Haug Fossbakk