European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis kicked off BlueInvest Day in Brussels saying the blue economy is going to be a big part of Europe’s future under the European Commission’s Competitiveness Compass and the Clean Industrial Deal.
Commissioner Kadis said he is tasked with developing the European Ocean Pact which is an opportunity to ensure coherence across all EU policy areas linked to the ocean. Its objectives include developing a competitive and sustainable European blue economy; protecting and restoring ocean health, productivity and resilience; building a robust marine knowledge framework; establishing a global ocean governance and diplomacy; and enhancing the resilience of coastal communities and cities.
“As you can see, innovation and investment are crucial drivers in making the Ocean Pact a success. Allow me to echo President von der Leyen’s words from the Davos Forum this January: “Europe must shift gears” to sustain its future growth.
BlueInvest is an EU platform and technical assistance facility that aims to accelerate ocean-based technologies and solutions to unlock innovation and related investment opportunities. It supports aquaculture, blue biotech, renewable energy, coastal and marine tourism, environmental protection and regeneration, fisheries, shipping, water management and digital ocean.
Commissioner Kadis said the total volume of blue economy deals made in Europe last year was €8 billion, double the year before and “a huge jump from 2019, when we had €13 billion in total over several years. This clearly shows that the blue economy is increasingly seen as a good long-term bet for companies making use of innovative technologies to create new services and products.”
He said Europe has seen a huge increase in deals on blue renewable energy, water management, aquaculture and fisheries and that the markets are increasingly active on blue technologies, on ocean observation, in the algae sector and on solutions to regenerate and protect our coastal areas.
“We can also be inspired by new technologies for autonomous underwater vehicles, ocean observation, underwater communication and surveillance, and the use of swarm intelligence. These are all critical, dual-use technologies that can protect our vulnerable underwater infrastructure.”
He lauded BlueInvest for boosting finance in the sector. “Thanks to the blending of EU funds from the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, InvestEU and finance from the European Investment Bank group, we have been able to crowd in significant private investments. BlueInvest has already mobilised more than €1 billion of investments for innovative blue economy companies since its launch in 2019.”
Now, he said, there is a blue innovation risk capital ecosystem in Europe that was virtually non-existent when BlueInvest started. Now it has more than 30 blue economy funds with an average size around €100 million. He also wanted to thank the more than 300 investors in the BlueInvest community.
BlueInvest, “is helping us close the innovation gap by bringing EU-made innovations to market and creating jobs and growth here in the EU. In addition, BlueInvest is also contributing to closing the investment gap with financing models that can be scaled further.”
