Several commitments were made for the protection of the oceans and the reduction of plastic pollution during the One Ocean Summit, which was held in Brest from February 9 to 11.
“We innovate”, “actions!”, “results!”… These were the words of Emmanuel Macron on the spot. During this summit, some thirty Heads of State and Government gathered around the President of the Republic to accentuate the efforts of coalitions of actors all over the world on the protection of the oceans. Here is what to remember from the various announcements of this summit.
Fight against plastic pollution
From Brest, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the constitution of a coalition comprising the 27 members of the European Union as well as other countries to conclude a treaty intended to protect the high seas. United States will be a member. These negotiations aim to fight against the pollution caused by the 8.3 billion tonnes of plastics produced since the 1950s. The launch of the negotiations will be examined at the end of February during the 5th Assembly of the United Nations for the environment.
Fight against overfishing and illegal fishing
During this summit, several members of the European Union “undertook to mobilize their state navy within the framework of missions abroad to strengthen the surveillance of illegal fishing”, as the French presidency asserts.
Thus, Emmanuel Macron proposes to “remove public subsidies that contribute to overfishing and illegal fishing”.
Removing public subsidies that contribute to overfishing and illegal fishing is our international goal for the next few months. pic.twitter.com/1EwPxUfzZq
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 11, 2022
Intensified seabed mapping
On the occasion of the One Ocean Summit, the UN organization for education, science and culture pledged that at least 80% of the seabed will be mapped by 2030. A goal which costs about five billion euros. To achieve this, three axes are possible: the mobilization of a fleet of 50 ships specially dedicated to the mapping of the seabed, the intensification of the use of sonar on autonomous ships and the transmission by governments and companies of cartographic data whose they dispose.
Launch of a coalition for “blue carbon”
In order to preserve underwater vegetation, which represents one of the concrete solutions to global warming, Emmanuel Macron announces the launch of a coalition for blue carbon.
“This coalition will allow us to identify sources of funding and concrete actions for our biodiversity”, insisted the Head of State.
Preserving underwater vegetation is one of the concrete solutions to global warming. We are launching today a coalition for blue carbon, to identify and finance actions in favor of our biodiversity. pic.twitter.com/vmnJLZiLXe
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 11, 2022
