POSTED ON FEBRUARY 11, 2022
Brest's commitments for the ocean
Brest's commitments for the ocean
More than 100 countries, from all sea basins and representing more than half of the world's exclusive economic zones, have expressed their determination to preserve the oceans by contributing to the "Brest Ocean Commitments", alongside the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Director General of UNESCO and the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization.
These strong commitments were made during the One Ocean Summit held from February 9 to 11, 2022 in Brest, bringing together 41 States, representatives of civil society and businesses, a milestone of a French presidency of the Council of the European Union committed to the climate and of an active European policy in favor of the oceans.
Aware that the place of the ocean in the international political agenda today is neither commensurate with its role in the planetary climatic, environmental and social balances, nor in terms of the threats weighing on marine life, the leaders gathered in Brest pledged to work collectively, quickly and concretely to put a stop to the degradation of the ocean.
They have chosen to act for the preservation of biodiversity, the end of the overexploitation of marine resources, the fight against pollution and the mitigation of climate change.
Protecting the biodiversity and resources of our oceans
The creation of protected areas is an essential pillar for the preservation of biodiversity. It is now essential to continue and amplify the momentum by setting high ambitions for the decade to come.
- More than 30 new countries have joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People launched at the One Planet Summit in January 2021. There are now 84 countries with the goal of protecting 30% of the world's land and seas by 2030 .
Two-thirds of the ocean, located beyond national jurisdictions, ie 45% of the surface of our planet, cannot currently benefit from marine protected areas.
- The 27 Member States of the European Union, joined by 16 third countries , have therefore launched the "High Ambition Coalition for a High Seas Treaty" in order to work towards the conclusion this year of an operational and on the sustainable use of the high seas and the protection of its biodiversity.
Illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing accounts for almost a fifth of global catches, undermines efforts to manage fish stocks sustainably and is often accompanied by very poor safety and working conditions for fishermen.
- 14 countries participating in the One Ocean Summit have committed to strengthening the fight against illegal fishingon several fronts:
- 6 countries have committed to ratify, before the deadline of October 2022, the Cape Town agreement of the International Maritime Organization, which will thus finally be able to come into force and set safety standards for fishing vessels.
- 2 new countries will ratify the FAO Port State Measures Agreement, which allows better control of fishing activities at landing ports.
- Several Member States of the European Union have undertaken to mobilize their State Navy in the framework of missions abroad to strengthen the surveillance of illegal fishing, in application of the European regulation of 2008.
Joining forces with those of the ocean in the face of climate change
The strong growth of maritime transport, driven by that of world trade, requires a rapid and significant reduction in nuisance.
- 22 European shipowners have committed to the new Green Marine Europe label , applying very concrete measures in eight areas: underwater noise, polluting atmospheric emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, invasive aquatic species, management of residual materials, oily discharges, ship recycling.
- 35 players, including 18 major European and world ports, have committed to accelerating the supply of electricity to ships calling to limit greenhouse gas emissions and reduce atmospheric pollution in often dense port cities.
- In order to reduce air pollution, all Mediterranean countries, joined by the European Union, have undertaken to ask the IMO to create a low sulfur emission zone across the entire Mediterranean by 1 January 2025 . France, Spain, Italy and Monaco will also ask the IMO this summer for the creation of a Particularly Vulnerable Maritime Area with regard to the strong presence of cetaceans, in order to be able to limit the speed of navigation there and thus reduce collisions.
The ocean plays a decisive role in the fight against and adaptation to climate change. Certain marine and coastal ecosystems (salt meadows, underwater meadows or mangroves) have the capacity to absorb and store large quantities of carbon: this must now be valued to accelerate protection and restoration projects, in order to enable genuine “blue carbon offsetting”.
- France and Colombia have launched in Brest an international coalition for blue carbon , which will bring together national and multilateral actors in this field to contribute to the financing of the restoration of coastal ecosystems, on the basis of common and rigorous methodologies.
To put an end to plastic pollution of the oceans
9 million tonnes of plastic are dumped into the ocean each year, 80% of which comes from coasts and rivers. Massive investment is needed to upgrade sanitation and waste treatment infrastructure on all continents
- On the occasion of the One Ocean Summit, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development joined the European Investment Bank and the French (AFD), German (KfW), Italian (CDP), Spanish (ICO) development banks which have joined forces in the largest initiative dedicated to reducing plastic pollution at sea through the Clean Oceans Initiative . Together, they have doubled their intervention in this sector by committing to provide a total of €4 billion in financing by 2025 .
The best way to ensure that waste does not reach the ocean is to stop producing it. To accelerate the transition to a circular economy that aims for 100% reuse or recycling of plastic materials and the abandonment of all single-use uses, the global commitment for a new plastics economy, led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the United Nations Environment Program brings together States, local authorities, businesses and NGOs.
- On the occasion of the One Ocean Summit, Greece, Italy, Colombia, South Korea, the City of Paris and the Maritime Region of Central Greece joined the “global commitment for a new plastics economy” and 500 signatories from all over the world, including 250 companies.
- On the occasion of the One Ocean Summit, India and France jointly launched a multilateral initiative on the elimination of pollution due to single-use plastic .
Placing the Ocean at the heart of the international political agenda
The work of the One Ocean Summit is the starting point for a series of international meetings for which the ocean will be central, in particular the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon in June, but also COP27 hosted by the Egypt in the fall.
- To confirm this momentum and build an ambitious international ocean agenda, France and Costa Rica have proposed to organize the next United Nations conference on the ocean together in 2024.
To decide, you have to understand better. The digital revolution is an opportunity to build an integrated model of the ocean, covering physics, chemistry, marine life and human activities. This "digital twin" will be able to shed light on political decisions and monitor their effects, allow the economy of the sea to develop while respecting ecosystems and foster dialogue with stakeholders and the public.
- The European Union is committed to equipping itself with a digital twin of the ocean which will make it possible to gather knowledge and test action scenarios, in the service of European blue growth and global governance.
- UNESCO is committed to having at least 80% of the seabed mapped by 2030.
In addition to its active participation in the collective commitments announced at the summit, France, the host country, acts at the national level and intends to be exemplary.
- It contributes to raising the collective ambition for the preservation of marine biodiversity:
- It announced that it has now reached and exceeded the objective of classifying 30% of the land and sea areas under French jurisdiction as protected areas, with the extension of the national nature reserve of the French Southern Territories, which has become the 2nd largest marine area. protected in the world with more than 1.5 million km2.
- To go further, French Polynesia has undertaken to create within its EEZ a network of marine protected areas of at least 500,000 km².
- France also presented a progress report on the implementation of the action plan adopted to deal with incidental catches of small cetaceans in the Bay of Biscay.
France has announced commitments to further combat ocean pollution:
- It undertakes to treat within 10 years the abandoned landfills on its coasts presenting risks of discharge into the sea of waste, in particular plastic. Three of them, where the situation is particularly urgent, will be dealt with from this year 2022: those of Dollemard in Seine-Maritime, Fouras in Charente-Maritime and Anse Charpentier in Martinique.
- The anti-waste law for a circular economy puts France on the path to phasing out single-use plastic packaging by 2040.
Finally, France is committed to improving knowledge of the effect of climate change on sea level rise:
- France will soon publish its first national polar strategy and will launch a scientific program to measure the contribution of East Antarctica to sea level rise.
For the record, 41 countries responded to the invitation and contributed at a very high level to the summit : Germany, Barbados, Canada, China, Cyprus, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, South Korea, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Egypt, Spain, United States, France, Gabon, Ghana, Greece, India, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, Malta, Morocco, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea , Portugal, United Kingdom, Senegal, Seychelles, Tanzania, Tonga, Tunisia
Plus de 100 pays, venus de tous les bassins maritimes et représentant plus de la moitié des zones économiques exclusives mondiales, ont fait part de leur déterm
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