Leveraging space tech to safeguard the oceans: the Prince’s Government steps up its commitment by joining the Space4Ocean Alliance

Photo de groupe à l'observatoire de Nice ©Direction de la Communication – Stéphane Danna

The idea of creating a Space4Ocean Alliance was first floated in 2023 by France’s national space agency, the CNES, and coordination meetings were held in Paris in December 2024 and Monaco in March 2025 to flesh out the project. The Alliance was officially launched at the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) held in Nice from 9 to 13 June 2025, and aims to find collaborative, practical answers to ocean issues.

The Prince’s Government is a founding member of the international coalition, where it is represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and the Office for Outer Space Affairs.

Built on the combined expertise of its members, who include space agencies, multilateral institutions, and representatives from the scientific and maritime communities, the Alliance seeks to harness synergies between the worlds of space technology and marine science, to develop practical, sustainable solutions for ocean conservation and protection. Its work is fully in line with major international policy frameworks like Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 14, the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the UNESCO Decade of Ocean Science.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Isabelle Berro-Amadeï was in attendance at UNOC3, where over the course of the week she took part in two landmark segments focusing on the Alliance, alongside members of her team and Olivier Minazzoli, Administrator of Monaco’s Office for Outer Space Affairs.

The highlight came on 13 June with a segment organised by the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) during the closing session of UNOC3, where declarations of interest signed by the Alliance’s 27 members were handed to Mr Peter Thompson, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean, officially rubber-stamping the Alliance’s creation and laying out its international commitments.

A few days earlier, on 9 June, Isabelle Berro-Amadeï had joined the Alliance’s 26 other members at the Côte d’Azur Observatory to sign the declaration of interest at an event attended by around 200 people. They included numerous prominent members of the scientific community along with representatives of institutions and the space sector, among them Philippe Baptiste, Minister for Higher Education and Research (France), Elisabeth Norgård Gabrielsen, Director General of the Department for Fisheries (Norway), Lionel Suchet, Deputy Director General of the CNES, Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice and President of the Nice-Côte d’Azur Metropolitan Authority, astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and Gaelle Giesen, physicist, space engineer, and open water diving world record holder.

The next key milestone will see the Alliance’s steering committee convene for the first time in Oslo in Q3 2025, where it will decide how the initiative will be governed operationally and adopt a shared roadmap.

“I’d like to acknowledge and thank all of the founding partners - space agencies, oceanographic institutions - whose commitment has helped make this ambitious initiative a reality, with one goal: to harness the power of space technology in the cause of ocean conservation.

This initiative is not merely an abstract idea, but aims to address the very real challenges that the world’s most vulnerable nations face on a daily basis, from rising sea levels to coastal erosion and collapsing fish stocks.

We now have powerful tools at our disposal to tackle those issues, such as satellite imagery, in situ data, and digital models allowing us to observe ocean dynamics, understand the pressures on marine ecosystems, and anticipate the effects of climate change, provided those tools are shared fairly.

That is what the Alliance we are launching here today is all about: sharing data and knowledge, and building sustainable collaborations. We cannot hope to protect the ocean without a fine understanding of how it is changing, and that requires a combination of knowledge, resolve, and resources.”

Isabelle BERRO-AMADEÏ, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation - Friday 13 June 2025

“The Monaco Office of Outer Space Affairs’ involvement in this initiative is founded on a clear and pragmatic vision: using space technology for the benefit of our planet, and particularly the cause of ocean conservation. 

Despite what its name might suggest, the Office of Outer Space Affairs is not about space exploration. What it aims to do is leverage existing space services to deliver concrete solutions to environmental and societal issues.

True to the commitment shown by His Serene Highness the Sovereign Prince, we firmly believe that space is part of the solution, by enabling us not just to monitor marine ecosystems more closely, but also to promote sustainable ocean governance in the face of rising pressures.”

Olivier MINAZZOLI, Administrator of the Monaco Office of Outer Space Affairs - Monday 9 June 2025

Sur le site de l'UNOC à Nice ©UNOOSA - Bianca Otero

The Space4Ocean Alliance’s key objectives:

• Strengthen collaboration between the space community and marine, maritime, and other relevant stakeholders to effectively meet needs and priorities for management of ocean and coastal areas.

• Address observational and operational gaps through innovative space missions and applications.

• Build capacities by promoting best practices, expanding access to observation data, and fostering training initiatives, with a focus on empowering frontline countries such as Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

• Support the development of evidence-based local, regional and global ocean indicators of the state and health of the marine environment to guide decisions and policies.

• Support and promote the delivery of operational services to address the most critical ocean issues:

- Marine biodiversity protection:  Enhance monitoring of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to safeguard ecosystems.

- Climate change impacts: Observe and assess ocean and coastal responses to climate change, natural disasters, and extreme events.

- Sustainable blue economy: Promote sustainable practices in fisheries, aquaculture, maritime energy, and decarbonised shipping.

- Pollution control:  Detect and mitigate marine and coastal pollution.

- Coastal zone management: Develop tools to manage coastal ecosystems under increasing anthropogenic pressures.

- Maritime security: strengthen surveillance to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities.

The Space4Ocean Alliance is an international platform for coordinated action, merging space technologies and marine science to deliver effective and sustainable solutions for the future. It will leverage the frameworks established by existing international organisations.