The Justice axis focuses on the challenges 4 (sustainable ocean economy), 5 (climate change), and challenge 10 (behaviour change). The main knowledge and expertise areas are economy, policy making, ecology, physical oceanography, Earth observation, polar science.

The two actions proposed are the following:

A healthy urban ocean reverberates into a healthy global ocean, capable of sustaining an ocean economy that benefits all urban dwellers, even beyond the economic sectors directly related to the ocean. Ocean economy should be framed within the operating space set by a lower threshold of social justice and an upper threshold of environment sustainability. New economic opportunities need to be created and ecosystem services need to be revisited (food and energy provision, local economies, coastal protection, identity and wellbeing). One key action will be interdisciplinary capacity building not only in ocean science and innovation but also in the interconnections between ocean resources, circular economy and planetary boundaries.

The urban ocean is an essential part of a single global ocean, a complex interconnected system. As identified in the “Healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters” mission of Horizon Europe, our lack of understanding the connections is one of the four challenges towards a healthy ocean. Marine sciences can shed light on how urban dwellers and cities as a whole affect remote areas of the ocean. This action will highlight the necessity of establishing local, regional and international networks with shared goals. It will also give visibility on how anthropogenic perturbations are affecting the Earth system, with the ocean as its essential and principal component, with a major effect on its current climate.