EU Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella was handed a prestigious environmental award on Monday evening, in recognition of his work to protect the world’s oceans.

Commissioner Vella, whose portfolio includes the environment, maritime affairs and fisheries received the German Ocean Award, which is awarded by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research and Deutsche Bank, under the patronage of the Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein, at a ceremony in Kiel.

The ‘Deutscher Meerespreis’ is awarded to well-known individuals from the fields of politics, business, science or the media who have shown special commitment to the cause of preserving and protecting the world’s oceans or to communicating knowledge and educating the public about them.

Accepting the award, Mr Vella talked himself down as a “humble Maltese villager” and recalled his fond childhood memories of growing up by the sea.

“Now I am working to make sure that my grandchildren – and the generations after them – have their fond memories too,” he said.

“This award is not about me,” he said.  “It is about the coordinated response the European Commission has developed to protect and sustainably use our ocean.”

In the four years since Mr Vella has been commissioner, the EU Commission has committed hundreds of millions of euros for clean, healthy and safe oceans and proposed a ban on many single-use plastics.

Ten per cent of all EU waters have been designated as Marine Protected Areas, two years ahead of the deadline initially set, and the number of fish stocks fished at sustainable levels has risen to 54 out of 76. Six years ago, that number stood at 20.