Pledge in Favour of a Clean Atlantic Ocean

The Norte Portugal Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-NORTE) is a public institution that works towards the integrated and sustainable development of the Norte Region of Portugal, contributing to the country’s competitiveness and cohesion.
CCDR-NORTE is also a member of the Atlantic Arc Commission (AAC), established in 1989, and one of the six Geographical Commissions in the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) of Europe.CPMR campaigns  in favour of a more balanced development of the European territory, operating both as a think tank and as a lobby for Member Regions. Through its extensive network of contacts within the EU institutions and national governments, CPMR has been targeting its action towards ensuring that the needs and interests of Member Regions are taken into account in policies with a high territorial impact.
With some 60 million inhabitants, AAC currently represents 12% of the European population and 14 Atlantic regions. Its priorities are linked to Accessibility, Transport, Marine Renewable Energies, Fisheries, Tourism, Culture, and Innovation. More recently, AAC campaigned in favour of its own strategy at the EU level.
In June 2021, AAC approved the proposal presented by CCDR-NORTE for the creation of a Working Group on the theme of Ocean Pollution, followed by the development of a Pledge on Ocean Pollution which can contribute to inspiring action and guiding policy change through multi-stakeholder engagement across all economic sectors and groups of society regarding prevention and control of marine litter. This commitment, approved by all AAC Member Regions on May 2022, can be summarised in the following aims:
- Contribute to developing a sustainable maritime economy and reduce the pressure on the marine environment, notably through pollution and eutrophication, litter coming from land activities, and global climate change.
- Bolster efforts to decrease significantly the widespread use of plastic and other sources of marine pollution (chemicals, nutrients, pharmaceuticals, textile fibres, etc.), ensuring that the remaining is reused or recycled.
- Coordinate with the Atlantic Strategy Committee and the Atlantic Strategy Pillar IV “Healthy Ocean” to establish a strong and integrated framework to protect the marine environment at the Atlantic level.
- Develop regular joint raising awareness campaigns on marine pollution, thus widespreading ocean literacy.
- Start or enhance the dialogue with all the regional stakeholders to develop a common vision and principles which express a locally established balance between protection and conservation, on one side, and development and growth, on the other.
Therefore, by joining the Mission Ocean and Waters Charter, CCDR-NORTE and the other 13 AAC Member Regions will be able to keep abreast of its evolution, in order to anticipate future Horizon Europe calls for projects on Ocean Restoration.
They also will be able to exploit opportunities for interaction with project stakeholders and can help shape the implementation of the Mission on the ground.
Through the various activities organised by CPMR Atlantic Arc Commission within the framework of the projects, these regions will gain visibility and share their needs and best practices with other stakeholders.
Ultimately, they can maximize the impact of regional investment in R&I.