France is a candidate for the organization of the next United Nations conference on the oceans in 2025, alongside Costa Rica, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday June 30.
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“
We must set ourselves, as during the Paris agreements in 2015, ambitious objectives for biodiversity and particularly for the oceans
”, he declared during the second conference on the Oceans, organized in Lisbon, after that of 2017 in New York.
"
In the years to come, we must bring the international community together
"
around these issues, he added, setting the 2025 meeting as the horizon.
wake of our determination by all the players
", said the Head of State.
France has already hosted an ocean summit in February.
Emmanuel Macron then pleaded for the conclusion at the World Trade Organization of an agreement against public aid for overfishing and illegal fishing, which has since materialized.
Since then, "
35 players including 18 international ports have committed to decarbonizing maritime transport by 2028
", he also recalled.
Some 500 actors have also joined the "
global commitment to fight plastic pollution
" promoted by the United Nations Environment Program and the Ellen McArthur Foundation.
Less than 10% of the world's oceans are protected
With less than 10% of the world's oceans currently protected, 100 countries have joined a coalition advocating to set aside 30% of the planet's land and ocean surface as protected areas by 2030. This initiative could be the cornerstone of a treaty which should be finalized during the United Nations summit on biodiversity to be held in December in Montreal.
It is supported by the United States, European Union countries, Mexico, Canada, Japan and India, but China, Russia, Indonesia and Brazil have yet to join. .
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The seas, which cover more than two-thirds of the planet's surface, generate half the oxygen we breathe and represent a vital source of protein for the daily lives of billions of people.
The ocean plays a key role for life on Earth by mitigating the impacts of climate change.
But the cost is considerable.
By absorbing around a quarter of CO2 pollution, even as emissions have increased by 50% over the past 60 years, the sea has become more acidic, destabilizing aquatic food chains and reducing its ability to capture ever more gases. carbonic.
And, by absorbing more than 90% of the excess heat caused by global warming, the