Uncovering the hidden threat of marine geohazards in Europe
This Policy Brief summarizes the priorities from the EMB Position Paper 26 "Marine geohazards: Safeguarding society and the Blue Economy from a hidden threat" and points towards relevant policy actions that would ensure the development of effective risk-mitigation and science-based management practices and policies, thereby contributing to protect coastal population and economic activities at sea from marine geohazards. Marine geohazards pose a significant threat to the European coastal population and to the development of the Blue Economy.
The publication recommends the following:
- Include marine geohazards as natural hazards in all policies relating to risk mitigation and land management, at European, regional, national and local levels;
- Consider marine geohazards in local, national and EU marine and maritime legislation such as the EU Marine Spatial Planning Directive, legislation pertaining to Integrated Coastal Zone Management, and initiatives that relate to the safe development of the Sustainable Blue Economy;
- Promote a common standard for marine geohazard interpretation and mapping to complete a census of geohazard features in European seas, to ensure a pan-European approach for the safe development of the Blue Economy.