French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have joined forces at the start of the UN Ocean Summit (UNOC3), which brings together 56 heads of state and government in Nice on Monday, issuing a warning to the notable absentee, Donald Trump, who did not even send a delegation to the French city. "The first response is multilateralism," proclaimed the French president, calling for mobilization to prevent the boiling of the sea. "Climate, like biodiversity, is not a matter of opinions," he stressed. "It is a matter of scientifically proven facts."
"The threat of unilateralism looms over the oceans," warned the Brazilian president, referring to Trump's recent decision to authorize deep-sea mining even in international waters. "We cannot allow the same thing to happen to the sea as has happened with international trade."
Macron gave a markedly political tone to his speech, with a very direct challenge to the American president: "The abysses are not for sale, nor is Greenland, Antarctica, or the high seas." The French president took advantage of his speech at the conference opening to announce that the High Seas Treaty now has fifty ratifications, just ten short of the required minimum of 60 for it to enter into force.
"Fifteen countries have formally committed to adhere in the last few hours," Macron stated. "This means that the political agreement has been reached and that the treaty will be properly implemented. It is a triumph," he assessed.
Sánchez attends Nice but cancels the press conference
The so-called High Seas Treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Marine Biodiversity in international waters is precisely one of the focal points of the Spanish delegation, led by Pedro Sánchez. Spain was the first country in the European Union to ratify it and has joined forces with France to surpass the threshold of 60 countries in Nice. A press conference by the Spanish delegation that was initially scheduled for Monday has been suspended on the fly.
Macron kicks off the Nice summit to save the oceans and criticizes Trump's absence: "The oceans have become the Wild West"
The French president bridged the gap between the "Niza Action Pact" he hopes to achieve this week and the Paris Agreement signed ten years ago. President Lula, who will take over at the COP30 in Belém in November, in the heart of the Amazon, invoked a quote from Jacques Cousteau to strengthen the bond: "The water cycle and the cycle of life are one. It is not possible to speak of a sustainable world without protecting the oceans."
"The ocean is our common good par excellence," reiterated UN Secretary-General António Guterres. "And we cannot allow it to become the Wild West. We must move from plunder to protection." Guterres urged leaders to ratify the High Seas Treaty as soon as possible and to adopt a global binding treaty this year to address plastic pollution. The UN Secretary-General called on the World Trade Organization to take measures to prevent the most destructive fishing practices, proposed the goal of zero emissions for maritime transport by 2050, and called for caution regarding deep-sea mining until its environmental impact is scientifically proven.