The EU itself has called on other countries and regions to step up monitoring.
“Due to the complex nature of ocean observations, no single country or region can observe the oceans alone. This has to be a global effort with diplomacy at the forefront,” said Costas Cadiz, European Commissioner for Oceans, at the Neptune Forum, an event on ocean exploration and diplomacy in Paris on Monday.
Ocean Eye is part of the EU’s Oceans Agreement, a plan to improve the health of the oceans and boost regional ocean economic and security interests as human-induced climate change continues to disrupt ocean currents, water temperatures and fish stocks.
Mercator Maritime International Secretariat Director Pierre Baffrel (centre) is pictured with Cadiz and Defense Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius at the presentation of the European Digital Twin Ocean in Brussels in January 2026. Olivier Matisse/EPA
In June 2025, the European Commission announced that one-third of the €1 billion budget for the Oceans Agreement will be earmarked for scientific projects.
Some point to the technological overlap between ocean surveillance systems and more tech-savvy sectors such as space innovation as a way to explore other funding avenues. “There’s a lot of money in space[and]digital technology right now,” Buffrel said.
What’s more, he added, scientific ocean observation relies on “systems for monitoring, describing and observing the ocean using satellites, maritime measurements and digital systems.” “We are absolutely interested in looking at things holistically if we want to access the level of funding that we need.”
Mercator Ocean International is also working to build a “digital twin” of Europe’s oceans to help both the private and public sectors understand how the oceans respond to a variety of events, from plastic pollution to rising temperatures.
