The commitment of the French Head of State arrives in the midst of a session of negotiations of the International Section Funds Authority which is held in Kingston in Jamaica until November 11.
by Martine Valo
“I want to be very clear here, faithful to what I have already said: France supports the ban on any exploitation of the great seabed. I assume this position and will carry it in international enclosures”, A Affirmed Emmanuel Macron, Monday, November 7, in his speech delivered on the occasion of the opening of the 27
This declaration made before the heads of state and government gathered at Charm el-Cheikh is unambiguous. Paris is not content to join countries like Chile, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Panama, Germany, Spain and several Pacific island states favorable to a precautionary moratorium with regard to ocean funds, pending scientific knowledge on these still widely ignored ecosystems.
It is a question of thwarting the lusts of certain mining companies for the polymetallic nodules, the cobalt or the rare lands scattered on the ocean floor. France, however, will not be able to end the race for the abyss. “As was space, the oceans must be a new border for cooperation and multilateralism. We must do everything to preserve them in climate matters as well as their biodiversity,” argued the President of the Republic.
“unique ecosystems”
If the declining state of health of the marine world is now invited into major international climate meetings, it is because it plays an essential regulatory role, in particular by absorbing a large part of excessive heat Due to human activities.
Emmanuel Macron’s commitment arrives in the midst of a negotiation session of the International Marine Fund Authority (AIFM) which is held in Kingston in Jamaica until November 11. France’s position was eagerly awaited. On the one hand because it sits among the thirty-seven members of the council of this body placed under the aegis of the United Nations (UN). On the other hand because since the Conference on the UN Ocean in Lisbon in early July, during which the President of the Republic had certainly already advocated prudence, all doubts had not been swept. Official strategic notes in favor of exploitation had, for example, were written under the mandate of Prime Minister Jean Castex.
Environmental NGOs present at AIFM are particularly worried about hearing a French diplomat, mentioning, a few days ago, any compensations for the damage caused to the marine environment. “This does not make sense, these are unique, fragile ecosystems, endemic species habitats, all destruction is irreversible at the bottom of the ocean,” defends Emma Wilson, program manager within the Deep Sea Condese collective Coalition.
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