The ocean was at the heart of the debates at the World Conservation Congress in Marseille. As mentioned by the French Minister of the Sea, Annick Girardin, a high-level session was dedicated to the ocean for the first time at an IUCN congress. Nearly 100 ocean-related events were also organised during this international summit, and the 7 motions dedicated to the ocean were all adopted. Attention was also drawn to the links between biodiversity and climate – Emmanuel Macron notably echoed this in his opening speech when he mentioned the many solutions that biodiversity brings to the fight against climate change, and “the urgency of synchronising the international agendas on climate and biodiversity”.
France announces the organisation of the “One Ocean Summit
At the opening of the IUCN Congress, Emmanuel Macron announced that a “One Ocean Summit” would be organised and held in France in late 2021 or early 2022. This is the first summit dedicated to the ocean since the launch of the “One Planet Summit”, which held its first international event in 2017 at the initiative of the French President. In the same spirit as these previous editions, the “One Ocean” event aims to “put scientists, economic actors, regional actors and the United Nations around the table” in order to bring the discussions around the “BBNJ” (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions) treaty to the highest political level. The stakes are high, as the high seas represent 60% of the ocean’s surface and are not currently governed by any international regulation.
In a context of climate emergency, and a few months before the major international meetings on climate and biodiversity (COP 26 Glasgow), this major event is eagerly awaited by the ocean community: definitely an opportunity to give a strong political impetus to the upcoming international negotiations.
Marine biodiversity in the spotlight
Marine biodiversity was the subject of a large-scale mobilisation and numerous commitments within the framework of this congress. For instance, the French government joined the Global Coral Fund with a financial contribution of 3 million euros, and presented its brand new “marine biodiversity counter”, a tool aiming to assess the state of biodiversity in order to address these issues in a better way for its preservation. Emmanuel Macron also expressed the will to develop, by this autumn, a real “strategy for the poles”. Additionally, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has pledged to reduce overfishing when he declared that by 2030, 10% of territorial seas will become no-fishing reserves.
However, France abstained on the call for a moratorium on deep sea mining, which was adopted by an overwhelming majority with the support of more than 80% of the States and more than 90% of the organisations in the IUCN Members’ Assembly.
On the civil society side, the ocean community made waves, with nearly 100 events dedicated to the ocean and its ecosystems. In particular, OCP members gathered at the “Ocean of Solutions” event to present the initiatives they are implementing to fight climate change and biodiversity loss. Maritime sector transition, sustainable aquaculture, scientific research and ecosystem restoration: all these initiatives highlighted the tremendous potential of the ocean to meet the challenges of our time.
Commitments for the Mediterranean Sea
In the Phocaean city, the Mediterranean Sea received close attention. Eight Mediterranean governments launched the action plan “The Mediterranean an exemplary sea by 2030” (PAMEX), which aims to relaunch regional cooperation on the protection of marine biodiversity and to contribute to discussions at the multilateral and regional scale dedicated to the environment and fisheries management.
Emmanuel Macron also announced a 25-fold increase in the proportion of Mediterranean marine areas under “strong protection”, in order to achieve 5% strong protection in the Mediterranean by 2027 (0.2% x 25). These announcements need to be clarified, considering that the figure of 0.2% taken into account by the government covers the entire Mediterranean basin under strong protection, whereas only 0.1% of the French EEZ in the Mediterranean actually benefits from this level of protection.
To meet the major challenge of financing protected areas, the Highly Protected Mediterranean Initiative was launched in the presence of Prince Albert of Monaco: an innovative financial instrument dedicated to the development of highly protected areas in the Mediterranean. A fund for the protection of Poseidonia was also launched by the government of the Balearic Islands.
Moreover, Italy, France, Monaco and Spain have committed themselves to the protection of cetaceans and migratory species by proposing, through the IMO, the development of a PSSA (Particularly Sensitive Sea Area) in the northwestern Mediterranean.
Beyond commitments, taking action
The closing thematic session on the ocean ended with a strong message from the UN Special Envoy on the Ocean, Peter Thomson: “the protection of the ocean is a matter of intergenerational justice, the preservation of its integrity is essential for the future of humanity.”
Although the political ambition to make ocean protection a priority was clearly stated at the congress, many financial and institutional means still need to be implemented. Firstly, financial resources must be mobilised to provide a response that is commensurate with the current emergency. Further, Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, recalled that more than half of the value generated at the global level depends on nature and ecosystem services, whilst Emmanuel Macron called for “trade policies to be reinvented so that they become coherent with the existing climate and biodiversity policies“. Moreover, this message was echoed by Joanna Post of the UNFCCC Secretariat, who stressed the need to create more synergies between the “climate-ocean-biodiversity” trio in international frameworks.