2023-07-29 10:38:26
A carnivorous sponge photographed during a recent expedition to the abyss of the Northeast Pacific. NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY CENTER /AFP
War has now been declared between those countries which support deep ocean mining and those which strongly oppose it, or which support the idea that a moratorium, or “precautionary break”, is needed in the face of accelerating climate change. The annual meeting of the International Seabed Authority (AIFM) turned sour, ending on the night of Friday 28 to Saturday 29 July.
Admittedly, the board of this organization created in 1994 under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 (known as Montego Bay) had noted a few days ago that no authorization to exploit the abyss would be granted as long as a mining code defining the rules of the game is not adopted, which will not be the case before 2025. On the other hand, under the impetus of China, which has been holding back with four irons, the 168 Member States who have been meeting for five days at the general assembly in Kingston, capital of Jamaica, were not able to put on their agenda the opening of a debate on the very principle of going to exploit the ocean floor, as demanded France, Chile and Costa Rica, as well as the archipelagos of Vanuatu and Palau.
It was just agreed, at the last hour, to include on the provisional agenda for 2024 an item on “the general policy of the Authority in favor of the protection and preservation of the marine environment”. Emmanuel Macron said as early as Thursday July 27 from Vanuatu, during his tour of Oceania, the objective of holding a debate remains, in order to obtain a position from the AIFM in favor of a moratorium. by the next United Nations Conference on the Oceans organized jointly by France and Costa Rica in Nice, in June 2025.
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“The battle is now on. At least both sides are now identified”observes François Chartier, campaign manager ocean to Greenpeace France. “It was hard to believe it would be so complicated to have a simple discussion about environmental protection in a UN-affiliated body, but this is a positive first step on a long road. For the first time in the history of the AIFM, the question of a substantive debate was raised in a forum which, generally, never deviates much from the status quo”notes Emma Wilson, political adviser on behalf of the Coalition for the conservation of the depths of the ocean, a structure which federates a good hundred NGOs, including Greenpeace, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Foundation for environmental justice.
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