The UN ocean summit concludes Friday in Nice with progress toward better protecting the high seas, but without clear promises of funding. After bringing together some 60 world leaders, the meeting also closes with tougher warnings against deep-sea mining.
Environmental advocates and island nation leaders, for their part, criticize what they see as setbacks in fossil fuels and express disappointment regarding the protection of marine areas. The event was co-hosted by Costa Rica and France. President Rodrigo Chaves traveled to Europe last week and returns this past Friday.
Acceleration on the High Seas
Celebrated by all, the ratification of the High Seas Treaty by around 50 countries, formalized on Monday in Nice, raises hopes for a swift entry into force of this international agreement aimed at strengthening the protection of international waters (beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast, or 370 km).
Rebecca Hubbard of the High Seas Alliance, a group of 50 NGOs, hailed this as “incredible progress.” But “we must keep our foot on the accelerator,” she warned, as the treaty will only enter into force 120 days after the 60th ratification is deposited.
France failed to reach this key milestone in Nice, as French President Emmanuel Macron had hoped. But “there has been an incredible mobilization,” rejoices Romain Troublé, director of the Tara Océan Foundation.
“A real acceleration,” agrees François Chartier of Greenpeace. “A priori, the treaty will be finalized before the end of the year, and we will be able to begin work on the first marine protected areas on the high seas,” he added.
Harsh criticism of mining exploitation
Since the opening of the summit, world leaders have toughened their tone in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to unilaterally launch the exploitation of polymetallic nodules in international waters of the Pacific.
“The deep sea is not for sale,” declared Emmanuel Macron, speaking of “madness” and “predatory economic action,” while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned against a new “Wild West.” President Rodrigo Chaves also called for a pause in this activity on the high seas and in neutral maritime territory.
However, this firm rhetoric failed to significantly expand the coalition calling for a moratorium on deep seabed mining, which has grown from 32 to just 37 countries, out of the 169 member states of the International Seabed Authority (ISA). responsible for drafting a mining code.
(Better) Protected Areas
From Colombia to Samoa, Portugal, Greece, and Polynesia, countries around the world announced the creation of marine protected areas (MPAs) or the strengthening of existing ones, particularly by banning bottom trawling.
The world could exceed 10% of MPAs by the end of the conference, up from 8.34% previously. The weakness of France’s announcements, with a limit on bottom trawling in only 4% of its metropolitan waters, disappointed NGOs.
Silence on Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels (gas, oil, and coal), the main causes of global warming, are not mentioned in the draft final declaration to be adopted on Friday. The text highlights “the harmful effects of climate change” on the ocean and its ecosystems, without expressly advocating for a “transition” away from fossil fuels, as was done at COP28 in Dubai in 2023.
“It is the main cause of ocean degradation, and we don’t talk about it enough; it’s regrettable,” said Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Environment for the volcanic archipelago of Vanuatu in the Pacific.
The $100 billion in funding mentioned by Costa Rica ahead of the Nice conference failed to materialize. Some $175 billion (€153 billion) per year is needed to achieve the ocean sustainable development goal by 2030, according to a 2022 World Economic Forum report.
