Nicolas Hulot and Jean-Yves Le Drian have read the call for a "Ocean for the Common Good of Humanity" which has just been launched in Monaco on the occasion of World Oceans Day. The Government expresses its great interest in this civil society initiative, which emphasizes the responsibility of all to protect the oceans and their biodiversity.
L’The extension, diversification and intensification of human uses of the oceans today constitute a proven threat to marine biodiversity, particularly in areas beyond national jurisdiction. France is aware of the challenge of protecting the marine species and ecosystems of these areas far from the coasts, in particular through an international protective status on the high seas. This status and the measures that it would make it possible to take would guarantee the indispensable continuity of the measures already taken at the national and European levels to protect our waters under jurisdiction.
The Paris Climate Agreement encourages all States in its preamble to ensure the integrity of the oceans as an ecosystem for the protection of its vast and endangered biodiversity. The protection of biodiversity on the high seas is of particular importance, as it represents 70% of the surface of our oceans. The importance of having a framework for developing management tools such as marine protected areas and impact assessments of activities in the high seas is fundamental.
France is going to mobilize at the global level to obtain an ambitious agreement in favor of the protection of the oceans in the framework of the international negotiations that will open next September at the United Nations.
