News
Since Monday and for three weeks, the future of ocean mining has been discussed within the council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in Kingston, Jamaica.
France spoke there last night, through the voice of its ambassador Olivier Guyonvarch. Following Emmanuel Macron’s statements on the sidelines of the recent United Nations conference on the oceans in Lisbon, in which he came out in favor of an international legal framework that could prevent the mining of the oceans, Greenpeace France was waiting for a decision strong and unambiguous position to defend a moratorium on the exploitation of the abyss. The latter is already supported by the State of Palau, Fiji, the scientific community, NGOs and a growing number of parliamentarians around the world.
Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, the French ambassador made no mention of this moratorium. Above all, France has announced that it wants to gain time in the negotiations which could lead to the adoption of a mining code, and its attachment to this framework including strong guarantees for the protection of marine ecosystems.