An internationally-renowned team of Spanish artists has been creating a large mural in the Lithuanian home base of the EU Environment and Oceans commissioner this week to inspire action on climate breakdown.

The Boa Mistura team of artists have been commissioned by the European non-governmental organisation Our Fish, which campaigns to end overfishing and to restore a healthy ocean ecosystem.

Work began this week on the 300 square metre fresco, named “Heartbeat of the Ocean”, on the entire wall of a nine-storey apartment building in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.

“We chose Vilnius for the mural, as it is the home city of the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius,”Our Fish programme director Rebecca Hubbard explained.

“His mission to rebuild healthy fish populations and thriving ecosystems will not only ensure the oceans’ abilities to continue supporting life on the planet by providing all of us with oxygen and food – it will also contribute to sustaining the oceans’ protective powers against the worst effects of climate change,”she said.

 The team of Spanish artists Boa Mistura

The European Commission is currently preparing an action plan to conserve fishery resources and protect marine ecosystems.

It is “crucial for this plan to set out a pathway for reducing the devastating impact of overfishing on marine life and for bolstering the ocean's capacity to store carbon”, Hubbard said.

“This pathway should outline a transition from destructive bottom trawling towards sustainable fisheries that will also benefit the marine environment and support the livelihoods of our coastal communities,”she said.

Four members of the Boa Mistura team are employed on the mural, with a heart made of different marine species reminding the public that “every heartbeat of the planet comes from the bottom of the sea”..

The Boa Mistura team’s work is visible on buildings or streets in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, France, USA, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, South Africa, China, and in other countries.

The mural with the slogan “Save the ocean to save the climate” is expected to be completed in the next fortnight.