The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, a pioneering initiative dedicated to inspiring the complete mapping of the world’s ocean, has been selected as one of ten global projects for the Paris Peace Forum’s esteemed Scale-up Program (SCUP) in 2024-2025.
Announced during the Forum’s seventh edition, this recognition highlights Seabed 2030’s vital role in advancing our understanding of the ocean – a foundation for addressing global challenges such as biodiversity loss and climate change, which will be a priority theme for next year’s Forum.
Seabed 2030 is a collaborative project between The Nippon Foundation and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO), which seeks to inspire the complete mapping of the world’s ocean by 2030, and to compile all the data into the freely available GEBCO Ocean Map. The Project is formally endorsed as a Decade Action of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (‘Ocean Decade’). GEBCO is a joint programme of the IHO and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), and is the only organisation with a mandate to map the entire ocean floor.
Launched in 2018, SCUP is designed to elevate initiatives showcased at the Paris Peace Forum, offering selected projects year-long support from the Paris Peace Forum Secretariat. Through this programme, Seabed 2030 will receive a year of support from senior figures in industry and international agencies to scale its impact, strengthen partnerships and advance its mission to deepen knowledge of the marine environment – further bolstering efforts to deliver a complete map of the seafloor by the end of the decade.
“We are thrilled that Seabed 2030 has been selected for the Paris Peace Forum’s Scale-up Program,” said Steve Hall, Head of Partnerships for Seabed 2030, who represented the initiative at this year’s Forum. “This support aligns perfectly with our mission to accelerate global ocean mapping, which is essential not only for protecting biodiversity and addressing climate change but also for unlocking numerous other benefits. We look forward to working closely with the Paris Peace Forum community to further amplify our reach and impact.”
At the eighth edition of the Forum in 2025, Seabed 2030 will join fellow cohort members in showcasing its progress, highlighting the results of SCUP’s support.
All data collected and shared with the Seabed 2030 project will be included in the free and publicly available GEBCO global grid.
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For more detailed information on The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, please visit our website, seabed2030.org, like our Facebook page, follow us on X @Seabed2030, or contact enquiries@seabed2030.org.
For media inquiries contact:
Pegah Souri
pegah.souri@shearwater.global
+44 (0)7951 581707
The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project is a collaborative project between The Nippon Foundation and GEBCO. The Seabed 2030 Project, launched at the United Nations Ocean Conference in 2017 by Chairman Sasakawa of The Nippon Foundation, coordinates and oversees the sourcing and compilation of bathymetric data from different parts of the world’s ocean through its five centres into the freely-available GEBCO Grid. Four Regional Centres cover the Southern Ocean, the Arctic and North Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and the South and West Pacific Ocean. These feed data products into the Global Data Centre. The IHO Data Center for Digital Bathymetry (DCDB) serves as the long-term archive for Seabed 2030.
About UNESCO-IOC: The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC) promotes international cooperation in marine sciences to improve management of the ocean, coasts and marine resources. The IOC enables its 150 Member States to work together by coordinating programmes in capacity development, ocean observations and services, ocean science and tsunami warning. The work of the IOC contributes to the mission of UNESCO to promote the advancement of science and its applications to develop knowledge and capacity, key to economic and social progress, the basis of peace and sustainable development.
About the Ocean Decade: Proclaimed in 2017 by the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) (‘the Ocean Decade’) seeks to stimulate ocean science and knowledge generation to reverse the decline of the state of the ocean system and catalyse new opportunities for sustainable development of this massive marine ecosystem. The vision of the Ocean Decade is ‘the science we need for the ocean we want’. The Ocean Decade provides a convening framework for scientists and stakeholders from diverse sectors to develop the scientific knowledge and the partnerships needed to accelerate and harness advances in ocean science to achieve a better understanding of the ocean system and deliver science-based solutions to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The UN General Assembly mandated UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to coordinate the preparations and implementation of the Decade.