From Tuesday, June 15, France is organizing the annual meeting of the Antarctic Treaty and its 54 signatory states, for consultations on the governance behind which the safeguard of the biodiversity of the “
white continent
” is played out.
For the first time since 1989, Paris is hosting this “
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting
”, the 23rd since the text was signed in 1959.
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This treaty froze territorial claims on Antarctica and dedicated this landless continent to scientific and peaceful activities. The States Parties will meet for ten days (in virtual), to discuss the management of fauna, flora and the 52 scientific bases of the southernmost continent of the planet. "
It's like a meeting of co-owners
", summarizes Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, the French ambassador for the poles and maritime issues.
But behind the scenes will also play out the delicate question of the marine areas bordering Antarctica, rich in exceptional biodiversity and crucial against climate change. "
We have been asking for the creation of two marine protected areas for eight years, but Russia and China are going it alone,
" refusing to allow these areas to be classified, the writer and diplomat told AFP. But "
if we do not classify them, we leave them to the fishermen, which threatens the krill
", these small shrimps which feed the fauna of the Antarctic and form a "
vital biomass
". "
President Macron asked me to bring this file to the Russians and the Chinese, whom I am trying to convince,
" said Olivier Poivre d'Arvor.
The national budget dedicated to the polar areas is around 30 million euros per year.
France's role on this point is "
central
" and "
only a strong commitment at the highest political and diplomatic level will make it possible
" to move forward, he argues in a forum in Le Monde, alongside Isabelle Autissier, navigator. and president of WWF France.
The national budget dedicated to the polar areas is around 30 million euros per year.
If France wants to rise to the same level as its European neighbors, it will have to "
double its resources
" devoted to Antarctica and the Arctic, according to him.
"
We lack the resources and resources
" to upgrade the Dumont-d'Urville station, lamented the director of the Institut Polaire Paul-Emile Victor, Jérôme Chapellaz, during the presentation of "
L'été polaire
" , cultural and educational season dedicated to the polar worlds.
From June 23 to October 10, the public will be able to refresh their brains with a hundred events in 26 “
polar cities
” in France.
Among them, an exhibition of large-format photos of the ice floe, plastered on public facades.