Blue Manifesto – The Roadmap to a Healthy Ocean in 2030

CCB • January 28, 2020

More than 100 environmental organisations, led by Seas At Risk, BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, Oceana, Surfrider Foundation Europe and WWF launched the “ Blue Manifesto ”. The rescue plan lays out concrete actions which must be delivered by set dates in order to turn the tide on the ever-degraded and polluted ocean and coastlines. To be successful, change is needed on both land and sea. The NGOs call for:
– At least 30% of the ocean to be highly or fully protected by 2030;
– Shift to low-impact fishing;
– Securing a pollution-free ocean;
– Planning of human activities that support the restoration of thriving marine ecosystems. 

Press Release available in EN.

Full list of organisations signing the Manifesto:
A Rocha (International Marine and Coastal Conservation Programme); Animal latitude; APECE – Portuguese Association for the Study and Conservation of Elasmobranchs; Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation; ASOC – Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition; Asociacion plataforma”El Chorlitejo”; BIOM association; BirdLfie Sverige; BirdLife Cyprus; Birdlife Europe and Central Asia; BirdLife Malta; BirdLife Suomi; Birdwatch Ireland; Bloom; Brot für die Welt; BUND – Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland; By the Ocean We Unite; Climate Action Network Europe; CCB – Coalition Clean Baltic; CFFA-CAPE; ClientEarth; Compassion in World Farming; Cork Env Forum; Cork nature network; Deep Sea Conservation Coalition; Deep wave; DEPANA; DN – Danmarks Naturfredningsforening; DSM – Deutsche Stiftung Meeresschutz; DUH – Deutsche Umwelthilfe; Ecologistas En Accion; Ecos; EEB – European Environmental Bureau; ENT Foundation; Environmental Justice Foundation; FANC – Finnish Association for Nature Conservation; France Nature Environnement; Friends of the Black Sea; Friends of the Earth Europe; Fundajia Aquarium; Geota; Good fish foundation; Greenpeace; HOS – Hellenic Ornithological Society; IFAW – International Fund for Animal Welfare Europe; INCA – Iceland Nature Conservation Association; International Programme on the State of the Ocean; Irish Sea Sanctuary; Irish Wildlife Trust; Legambiante; Living Sea; LOB – Latvian Ornithological Society; LOD – Lithuanian Ornithological Society; LPN – Liga para a Protecção da Natureza; LPO – Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux; MARE Foundation; Mare Nostrum; Marevivo; MCS – Marine Conservation Society; MedReact; MedSOS; MEER; MIO-ECSDE – Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development; Mundus Maris; NABU – Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union; Natuurpunt; New Economics Foundation; Ocean and Climate Platform; Oceana; OceanCare; Oceanografica; OMA – Observatório do Mar dos Açores; Otop – Ogólnopolskie Towarzystwo Ochrony Ptaków; Our Fish; PongPesca; Poseidonia green project; Project Aware; Prowildlife; Quercus; ReefCheck; Rethink Plastic Alliance; Retorna; RSPB – Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; SAR – Seas At Risk; Sciaena; SDN – Stichting de Nordzee; Sea First; SEO – Sociedad Española de Ornitología; Slowfood Germany; SMILO – Small Islands Organisation; SPEA – Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves; SSNC – Swedish Society for Nature Conservation; Sunce; Surfrider; SWAN – Sustainable Water Network; T&E – Transport and Environment; TNC – The Nature Conservancy; Tour des deux Amériques solidaire en voilier; Under the pole; WDC – Whale and Dolphin Conservation; WWF; Zero Waste Europe.

CCB is looking for a Network Officer to join our team at the CCB International Secretariat

By CCB • April 9, 2025
Coalition Clean Baltic – CCB is a politically independent network, uniting 27 environmental non-profit organizations, as well as partners and experts from 11 countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. The main goal of CCB is to promote the protection and improvement of the environment and natural resources of the Baltic Sea region by encouraging new and constructive approaches and engaging people to become part of the solution instead of part of the problem. CCB Secretariat is based in Uppsala, Sweden.

Attacks on NGOs: 570+ Organisations Join Forces to Defend Civil Society

By CCB • April 7, 2025
European civil society organisations (CSOs) are currently facing an attack coming from certain Members of the European Parliament. Spearheaded by some MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) and by far-right groups, this attack resorts to misleading arguments to fabricate a scandal. This portrayal has been amplified through the media, with notable exceptions of articles that attempted to clarify this misleading narrative. European CSOs are crucial to ensure the voices of citizens from different parts of Europe are heard in the EU institutions. Attacks against civil society are unfortunately not new and are exacerbated by this harmful idea. Furthermore, for-profit corporate lobbying is through the roof when compared to non-profit advocacy. In 2024, the 50 corporations with the largest lobbying budgets collectively spent nearly €200 million on lobbying the EU alone (66% more than in 2015). Comparing this to the funding environmental NGOs receive under the LIFE programme - €15.6 million annually of a €700 million yearly budget - truly shows the weakness of this ‘scandal’. This is why over 570 civil society organisations from 40 countries, including all EU Member States, have joined forces to call on those in power to act now and ensure that civil society is adequately funded and enabled to share our crucial perspectives . In this statement, we address: The source of this false narrative; Inaccurate claims made about how CSOs obtain and use funding; Why it’s paramount that CSOs receive sufficient funding; The need for civil dialogue to enable CSOs participation. Democracy is about the right of citizens to be collectively heard for building an inclusive society and a shared European future; properly funded independent CSOs are a crucial tool for that. We call on decision-makers to ensure civil society organisations can thrive and play their role in interacting with policy-makers in order to have a more fully informed decision-making process. Read the full statement here . -END Civil Society Europe (CSE) is the coordination of civil society organisations at EU level. Through its membership, CSE unites EU-level membership-based organisations that reach out to millions of people active in or supported by not-for-profits and civil society organisations across the EU. CSE was created by several civil society organisations as a follow-up to the European Year of Citizens and was established as an international not-for-profit under Belgian law in 2016. Since then, it has become the point of reference for EU institutions on transversal issues concerning civil dialogue and civic space.