President of France Emmanuel Macron advocated “a ban on any exploitation of the ocean floor”, speaking today at the 27th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt.

“The oceans should be basically what space was a few years ago: it is a new frontier for cooperation and multilateralism,” Macron said from the COP27 podium in Sharm el-Sheikh.

France, “fulfilling its obligations,” “supports a ban on any exploitation of the ocean floor,” he added. “I adhere to this position and take it to international forums.”

In June, the French head of state spoke at the UN Oceans Conference in defense of the development of “a legal framework to stop mining from the bottom of the high seas and prevent new activities that could threaten ocean ecosystems.”

In his speech, Macron also promised a “positive conservation program” to protect “critical ecosystems – ancient forests, peatlands, mangroves or wetlands.”

“Therefore, we urgently need to recognize these ecosystems as a special status and offer host countries political and economic incentives to protect them,” he said, adding that Gabon, Colombia and the Philippines agreed to such an initiative during today’s COP27 meeting.

“We will meet in Libreville at the beginning of 2023 to adopt very concrete action plans at the One Forest summit,” the French president added.

Source: RES-IPE