The first global tool to promote equality in ocean management is born

Researchers from the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) and the University of Santiago de Compostela participate in the development of the Ocean Equity Index

An international team of researchers has published an article in Nature magazine entitled “The Ocean Equity Index,” which presents the first global tool designed specifically to measure and improve equity in ocean-related initiatives, projects, and policies.

This work is an outstanding example of high-impact research on ocean care, with the joint participation of the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) and the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) research center.

The authors include researchers from the EqualSea laboratory, CRETUS-(USC): Verónica Relaño, Natali Lazzari, and the director of Equalsea, Sebastián Villasante, within a broad international scientific consortium; as well as researcher Noelia Zafra-Calvo from the Basque center BC3.

The ocean is fundamental to life, food, the economy, and human well-being. However, numerous studies show that the benefits derived from ocean activities are concentrated among a few actors, while coastal communities and the most vulnerable groups bear much of the environmental and social impact. Faced with this reality, the Ocean Equity Index (OEI) responds to a key need in current marine governance: to move from declarative commitments on equity to practical mechanisms that allow it to be measured, compared, and improved.