Mercator Ocean’s transition to a European intergovernmental organization for ocean modeling (April 28, 2025)

On April 22 and 23, 2025, the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, Biodiversity, Forests, Marine Affairs and Fisheries held an international conference to transition the non-profit organization Mercator Ocean International to an intergovernmental organization (IGO). This decision follows on from the commitments made at the One Ocean Summit, which was held on February 10, 2022, in Brest.

Since it was founded by major French institutes 30 years ago, Mercator Ocean has become a European champion of ocean modeling and marine forecasting. Its transformation into an intergovernmental organization will allow Mercator to continue developing its work, in particular by digitizing ocean movements. This tool will boost ocean analysis and prediction capabilities in order to prevent climate risks. The new organization will advise governments, offer innovative services to those working in the maritime economy, and help raise citizens’ awareness about protecting the marine environment.

The conference brought together representatives from Belgium, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands and Portugal and saw the adoption of the text of the convention establishing Mercator International Centre for the Ocean (MICO), which will be open for signature at the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3). France and Costa Rica will co-chair UNOC3, which will be held in Nice from June 9-13.

The establishment of the future organization’s headquarters in Toulouse reflects France’s policy of attracting international organizations and reinforces Toulouse’s role in the field of planetary space observation and scientific research to advance global priorities.