Last week in Kiel, the EU Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Joe Borg, received the Elisabeth Mann Borgese award from the Government of Schleswig-Holstein for outstanding achievements for the seas. This prize is awarded every year in recognition of figures whose work has contributed to protecting and preserving the oceans and seas. Mr Borg received the prize for his efforts to contribute to the creation of an Integrated Maritime Policy for the EU.
Commissioner Borg said: "It is an honour to be receiving the Elisabeth Mann Borgese award. I see it very much as a tribute to pioneering stakeholders such as the Land of Schleswig-Holstein, who, in their pursuit of a sustainable future for our oceans and seas, have taken the European Union's Integrated Maritime Policy to their hearts and worked tirelessly to make it the forward-looking, dynamic policy it is today. The future development of maritime activities has to combine competitiveness and innovation with environmental responsibility and the conservation of natural resources in order to further sustainable economic development for our seas and coastal regions. This is what guides both the European Union's Integrated Maritime Policy and the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy that we have launched this year."
The Commissioner received this year's Meerespreis (Oceans Award) alongside bestselling author Frank Schätzing and Austrian maritime researcher Prof. Dr. Hans Hass. The award is bestowed in memory of Elisabeth Mann Borgese, whose lifelong commitment to protecting the world's oceans and seas as a common heritage lives on today. One of her most important legacies is the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which she and the International Ocean Institute she founded were instrumental in advocating.
