Macron urges global pact and deep-sea mining moratorium at UN Ocean Summit

French President Emmanuel Macron launched the UN Ocean Conference in Nice with a powerful appeal for global cooperation to protect marine ecosystems. "While the Earth is warming, the ocean is boiling," he said, stressing the vital role of multilateralism in addressing environmental threats. Macron advocated for a collaborative, science-driven approach, insisting that climate change and biodiversity loss are grounded in scientific evidence, not opinion.

He confirmed that a critical international agreement—the High Seas Treaty—will soon come into effect. Signed in 2023, the treaty requires 60 ratifications to become active. Macron announced that 50 countries had already ratified it, with 15 more pledging to join, marking a major step forward in ocean governance.

Macron also pushed for an international moratorium on deep-sea mining, calling the practice dangerously destructive to marine biodiversity. "Launching a predatory economic race at the bottom of the ocean is madness," he said, describing the moratorium as an urgent global responsibility.

The conference has drawn leaders from around 60 countries, including Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Argentina’s Javier Milei. The summit’s call for unity coincides with international debates over a global treaty on plastic pollution and the reluctance of some nations, including the United States, to support restrictions on deep-sea mining.

Currently, only 2.7% of the ocean is effectively protected from harmful extractive activities—far below the 30% target set for 2030. France, a key proponent of the High Seas Treaty, claims to have met the 30% conservation goal, though environmental groups argue that only 3% of French waters are truly safeguarded from practices like industrial fishing and bottom trawling.

In 2024 alone, over 100 trawling vessels reportedly operated for more than 17,000 hours within France’s six marine parks, according to data from Oceana. The summit aims to address such discrepancies between policy declarations and actual environmental protection.