The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with REV Ocean to work together to advance understanding of the ocean floor and support the United Nations’ Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Seabed 2030 is a collaborative project between The Nippon Foundation and GEBCO to inspire the complete mapping of the world’s ocean by 2030, and to compile all bathymetric data into the freely available GEBCO Ocean Map. GEBCO is a joint project of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), and is the only organization with a mandate to map the entire ocean floor.

REV Ocean is a not-for-profit company created with one overarching purpose and ambition: to make our oceans healthy again. Established in Norway in 2017, REV Ocean’s mission is committed to recovering the negative pressures currently affecting the oceans with a particular focus on dealing with the issues of plastic pollution, climate change, and the environmental impacts of fishing and overfishing.

The MOU will see REV Ocean contribute bathymetric data to Seabed 2030, as well as promote practices in technological innovation, infrastructure and solutions for ocean mapping and bathymetric data management challenges.

All data collected and shared with the Seabed 2030 Project will be included in the GEBCO global grid–the most complete bathymetric data set of the world’s ocean floor. By 2030, the grid will represent a complete map to coincide with the conclusion of the UN Decade of Ocean Science.

For more info on The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, visit: seabed2030.gebco.net, the Facebook page, or Twitter @Seabed2030.