“To protect the high seas, the time is no longer for half measures”

Vdrunk on a healthy, peaceful, and just planet is an ideal we all want to achieve for ourselves, for our families, and for generations to come. As scientific evidence accumulates almost daily on the seriousness of the damage caused to our planet, more than ever we must opt ​​for measures that respect humans, nature and our climate. As far as the ocean is concerned, this opportunity is within our grasp, since in a few weeks the final phase of negotiations will begin with a view to establishing a new global treaty capable of revolutionizing the life of the ocean.

The recent results of the legislative elections in France have highlighted the fact that many voters, young people in particular, make environmental issues a top priority. As newly elected MPs, we are committed to using our power for environmental action.

Starting August 15, governments around the world will meet in New York at the United Nations to finalize a new treaty to protect the high seas, which make up half of our planet. The high seas, legally designated by the terms “marine areas beyond national jurisdiction”, has so far suffered from the absence or weakness of a regulatory framework to protect its waters. Indeed, for decades, the various bodies established to control activities on the high seas, such as fishing, focused more on resource exploitation than on ocean protection. The current legal architecture therefore fails to protect the high seas. This is why this new treaty offers a unique opportunity to fill the existing gaps while guaranteeing the sustainability of the governance of the oceans as well as their good health.

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France is the second largest maritime area in the world by its extent, 97% within the overseas territories. This means that his voice can and must echo. In February, during the One Ocean Summit in Brest, the government took the initiative to create and lead a coalition of countries in favor of “high ambition” in order to promote the creation of a solid treaty in favor of the high seas. But as the negotiations draw closer to the finish line, we see that the European Union, of which France is a part, is at serious risk of emptying their meaning of the key provisions of this treaty in order to satisfy the wishes of less ambitious governments, eager to continue to benefit from the status quo.

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