Bulletin N°58 juin 2025 The third UN-sponsored Ocean Summit, co-chaired by France and Costa Rica, took place in Nice from June 9 to 13. The ocean (70% of the Earth's surface) has long been a battleground for imperialist conflict. It should be remembered that 80% of world trade is carried out by sea, making it essential for the dominant capitalist powers to control certain sensitive maritime passages.
Moreover, as recent news reminds us, submarine cables cover the seabed to ensure communications or transport electrical energy (over shorter distances).
Moreover, as terrestrial resources become depleted or less accessible for political reasons, capitalist interests are turning to underwater riches, yesterday oil, tomorrow minerals.
At the same time, climate change is affecting the oceans, which in turn are exacerbating them, particularly with the already noticeable changes in major ocean currents. Added to this is the depletion of fish stocks due to industrial fisheries.
An initial maritime strip of 22 km from the coast belongs to the coastal state ("territorial sea"). The following approximately 370 km constitute the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Due to the many territories it still dominates, France has one of the largest maritime domains, in particular through the conservation of the "confetti of the empire", the overseas departments, Polynesia and the famous Scattered Islands off the coast of Madagascar. Beyond the limit of the EEZ, the principle of "freedom of the seas" applies, where everything is permitted, with the obvious exception of piracy.
UN member states signed a high seas protection agreement in 2023 after… 20 years of discussion. Marine protected areas would be established (with a target of 30% of the areas concerned). It also represents a commitment to care for marine biodiversity and therefore requires any project in this high seas area to be subject to authorization (impact studies) and tracking of harvesting of marine genetic resources. A small but important detail: operators will have to refer to the country whose flag they are flying.
In Nice, the goal is to ratify this treaty, that is, to make it effective, because a simple signature remains a moral commitment not to contravene the treaty's provisions. To be validated, the treaty will have to be ratified by 60 states, which would already be a given according to the French Presidency (49 states have already ratified the treaty and around fifteen others have committed to it).
The French government has emphatically expressed its satisfaction with the resounding success of the Nice summit, which it claims is a resounding success. Moreover, France is setting an example, as trawling will now be banned in 4% of the French maritime zone, compared to the current 0.1%. Indeed, it was time to address this fishing method, which is not very conducive to marine biodiversity. As always with Macron, big talk and small tinkering.
Finally, when we learn that the COP will now be concerned with this marine issue and when we know the major impact of these "high masses", we say to ourselves that ultimately marine wildlife has a lot to worry about.
What's truly curious about all this commotion is the gap between diagnosis and cure: it's as if a doctor were prescribing aspirin to treat cancer. And what humanity needs to save itself is not goodwill, but rather a change in its economic and social system.