London, 9 October 2023 – The global initiative to map the world’s entire ocean, The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, has joined forces with PlanBlue, an innovative marine technology company seeking to transform seafloor monitoring.

The parties will work together to advance our understanding of the ocean floor, and in turn support the global effort underway to map the entire seafloor by 2030.

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 UN Ocean Decade. GEBCO is a joint program 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.

PlanBlue is a private company that has operationalized underwater hyperspectral imaging and AI driven data processing. With PlanBlue’s technology, the seafloor can be monitored quicker, more efficiently, and in more detail. PlanBlue specializes in ground-truthing aerial and satellite imagery to facilitate the expansion of blue carbon financing and biodiversity protection worldwide.

The company’s first focus is on developing a methodology to accurately estimate the carbon stock of seagrass meadows to introduce more transparency and efficacy to the emerging blue carbon market. At the start of this year, PlanBlue was selected as one of the winners of the World Economic Forum’s UpLink Ocean Data Challenge.

“The ocean is powerful, it plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change, helps feed the world, and provides half of the oxygen in the atmosphere. The seafloor is an important mirror for the health of the ocean,” commented Dr Hannah Brocke, Co-founder and CSO at PlanBlue. “We believe that accurate, detailed, and readily available data can help enhance blue carbon and biodiversity projects and unlock access to much needed finance in this space. That’s why we developed technology that allows us to deliver this” Brocke continued.

“It’s a pleasure to welcome PlanBlue as our latest partner,” commented Seabed 2030 Project Director Jamie McMichael-Phillips. “Their cutting-edge technology and expertise will enable us to greatly accelerate efforts to map the world’s seabed.”

All data collected and shared with the Seabed 2030 project is included in the free and publicly available GEBCO global grid.

For media inquiries, contact:

Titia Sjenitzer media@planblue.com +44 (0)7733 105523

Pegah Souri pegah.souri@shearwater.global +44 (0)7951 581707