The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project recently entered a partnership with the Nordic Hydrographic Commission (NHC).

The NHC comprises the Kingdom of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and aims to harmonize Nordic practices on hydrographic issues. As one of 15 Regional Hydrographic Commissions contributing to the International Hydrographic Organization’s (IHO’s) work, the NHC becomes the inaugural signatory to the Seabed 2030 project.

This significant memorandum of understanding (MOU), formalized at the NHC’s annual meeting in Sweden, represents a groundbreaking moment as the first Regional Hydrographic Commission to align formally with Seabed 2030, advancing the project’s mission to deliver a comprehensive map of the ocean floor by the decade’s end.

Seabed 2030, a collaboration between The Nippon Foundation and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO), endeavours to fully map the world’s ocean by 2030, consolidating all data into the freely available GEBCO Ocean Map. Endorsed as a Decade Action of the UN Ocean Decade, Seabed 2030 operates under the auspices of GEBCO, a joint programme of the IHO and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), mandated to map the entire ocean floor.

Magnus Walhagen, chair of the Nordic Hydrographic Commission, stated: “This partnership underscores the NHC’s commitment to collaborative efforts supporting global oceanic exploration and conservation. Our united endeavours will undoubtedly expedite progress towards achieving a fully mapped ocean floor.”

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

Return to news