Macron Opens UN Ocean Summit: A Call for Global Mobilization and Ocean Protection

A Call for Urgent Ocean Action

• 🌊 The UN Ocean Summit in Nice, co-organized with Costa Rica, marks a crucial victory against inertia and indifference towards environmental degradation.
• 💡 This mobilization is vital as global temperatures rise, ecosystems are threatened, and oceans are experiencing heatwaves, leading to rising sea levels.
• 🎯 Over 120 countries, 50 heads of state, and 30 international organizations have gathered, signifying an unprecedented mobilization for ocean health.

The Ocean's Critical Role

• 🌍 The ocean connects climate and biodiversity, with rising sea levels impacting over three billion people in coastal areas.
• ⚠️ Plastic pollution permeates the food chain, disproportionately affecting coastal states and small island nations.
• 🧠 Oceans are a primary ally against climate change, capturing a quarter of emitted carbon and a significant portion of heat, acting as a major climate regulator.

Revitalizing Multilateralism for Ocean Protection

• 🤝 The conference aims to reiterate the international community's commitment to the battle for oceans, revitalizing multilateralism behind the UN Secretary-General.
• 🔬 Free and open scientific partnership is deemed essential, with researchers needing freedom to establish scientifically established facts.
• 💻 New initiatives like the "Ocean Action Plan" aim to transform the ocean into an international organization, providing an online platform and interface between science and politics.
• 🛰️ The "Space for Ocean Partnership" will connect the space sector with oceanography, utilizing spatial data for ocean protection, alongside new exploration missions like "Cor" and "Neptune."

Protecting Marine Ecosystems and Biodiversity

• 🛡️ The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNG) treaty regulating high seas has achieved political agreement, with 50 ratifications submitted, paving the way for its implementation.
• 🚫 A moratorium on deep-sea mining is a crucial international need, as current economic actions are deemed predatory and could disrupt seabed biodiversity and release unknown carbon.
• 🏞️ The goal of protecting 30% of seas and lands by 2030 is a key struggle, with France committed to protecting over 30% of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
• 🐠 Measures are being taken to categorize sensitive ecosystems, regulate human activity, and prohibit destructive fishing techniques and mining in mapped areas.

Addressing Key Challenges: Plastic, Transport, and Illegal Fishing

• ♻️ The plastic pollution crisis, with 8 million tons dumped annually, requires a global declaration of mobilization.
• 🚢 Decarbonization of maritime transport is being accelerated through new initiatives and a historical agreement by the IMO to transform international shipping.
• 🎣 Combating illegal fishing, which accounts for one in five fish consumed globally, is crucial, with WTO and FAO agreements aimed at fighting subsidies for illicit activities.
• ⚖️ Addressing the injustice of illegal fishing, which disproportionately affects developing countries, is a priority to prevent double looting of biodiversity and fisheries resources.