Source: Tahiti Infos
The inaugural Blue Climate Summit, co-convened by Prince Albert II of Monaco and President Édouard Fritch, took place from 14-20th May in French Polynesia.
The summit highlighted the need for critical action to protect our ocean, including an international moratorium on deep-sea mining.
Over a period of six days, nearly 200 project leaders, scientists, policy makers, community leaders, associations and investors discussed concrete solutions to protect the oceans from the effects of climate change.
The summit addressed the major issues surrounding the exploration and exploitation of the deep seabed and brought the voices of Pacific leaders and communities into the debate.
Heremoana Maamaatuaiahutapu, Minister for Culture of French Polynesia stated that Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia and French Polynesia all have the same stance on deep-sea mining, which is that “if we have to examine what’s on the ocean floor, it should be solely for the acquisition of knowledge, not for exploitation purposes. And that has to be very clear. We want knowledge acquisition missions. I dare’nt even say ‘exploration’ because that term is too often associated with exploitation. We have 502 seamounts listed and we don’t know a single one. I think it’s important to know about the biodiversity around these seamounts beyond the minerals they house.”