A Tara foundation charter to limit plastic in the oceans

It is a new symbol for the schooner of the Tara Océan foundation, moored in Paris, near Pont Alexandre III, next to the National Assembly. Near the boat, on Thursday, February 27, a charter for candidates for municipal elections was presented. It invites them to adopt a responsible attitude towards plastic in order to reduce discharges into rivers and therefore into the oceans. They are notably called upon to act "against the spread of plastic waste" , to make "the fight against plastic pollution" a priority of their mandate and to mobilize consumers and manufacturers to change their habits and reduce their discharges . A total of fifteen measures are proposed by the three promoters of the charter, the Tara Ocean foundation, CNR (Compagnie Nationale du Rhône, concessionaire du Rhône for the production of hydroelectricity, river transport and agricultural uses), and l association IAGF (Initiatives for the future of large rivers).

Read also: Microplastics found in European rivers

Last year, the Tara Microplastics expedition studied around ten European rivers how plastic waste is transported to the ocean. More detailed scientific results will be communicated in a year, but in the meantime, it is already time for action: some 35 to 40 million tonnes of plastics released into the world every year, 8 to 9 million tonnes end up in the oceans. The charter, offered to candidates for municipal elections, has already won around thirty signatures, including that of Christophe Bouillon, candidate for Barentin (Seine-Maritime) and president of the Association of Small Towns in France.

Hidalgo and Villani have ratified the charter

In Paris, the mayor PS Anne Hidalgo already signed the charter on Monday February 24; LREM's dissident candidate, Cédric Villani, will officially ratify it on March 2. Agnès Buzyn, LREM candidate, has been contacted but has not yet given her consent. "We hope that she will sign it in the coming days, as well as Rachida Dati" , the candidate of LR, explain promoters of the charter. In Strasbourg, Catherine Trautmann, PS candidate, approved it, as did Jeanne Barseghian (EELV).

"We've had the idea for six months," says Romain Troublé, managing director of the Tara Océan foundation. This charter was created on the initiative of academician Erik Orsenna, sponsor of the Tara Océan foundation and also president of Initiatives for the future of large rivers, created in 2015 by the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône.

Federate initiatives for large rivers

But the projects are not limited to raising awareness among elected officials in France on the occasion of municipal elections. "Our association of general interest has a multidisciplinary and international approach" , explains Marie-Cécile Grisard, director of projects at the IAGF. The association is thus trying to unite initiatives for the health and governance of the various rivers around the world. Its partner is already the Saint-Laurent (Canada), the Yellow River (China) and the Parana (Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina).