France, which hosted the World Ocean Summit a year ago, has ratified an increase in protected areas. However, in practice, biodiversity conservation measures have not been strengthened.
One year after the UN Ocean Conference in Nice in June 2025, and as marine ecosystems undergo increasing upheaval, the French government wanted to make a statement. On Monday, June 8, World Ocean Day, the government highlighted a few minor French innovations at the Neptune Forum, an international event held at the National Museum of Natural History (Paris) and bringing together diplomats and scientific experts, among others.
The meeting allowed French ocean diplomacy to reaffirm its efforts and influence on several crucial issues, including the protection of the seabed threatened by the mining industry’s ambitions. But that wasn’t all: the French Ministers for Ecological Transition and for the Sea and Fisheries, Monique Barbut and Catherine Chabaud, also presented a plan to combat plastic waste at sea and welcomed the designation of three new marine protected areas.
Specifically, three maritime areas covering just over 900,000 square kilometers – primarily in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, but also in Guadeloupe and the Bay of Audierne in Brittany – are now designated as « strong protection » zones, areas where activities such as fishing and tourism are prohibited or restricted. This decision recognizes a certain level of protection in these areas, where rules are in place to safeguard biodiversity and habitats, but it does not entail any new measures, the government confirmed to Le Monde.
A long and complicated situation
The government is notably seeking to fulfill a promise made at the United Nations conference: to increase the percentage of French waters under strong protection from 4.8% to 14.8% by 2026 – a goal now largely achieved, to within approximately one-tenth of a percentage point. Last year, at the major diplomatic summit in Nice, which brought together some sixty heads of state and government, the issue was at the heart of a lengthy and contentious debate.
As many countries prepared to announce their commitments to marine protected areas, particularly with the aim of achieving the international goal of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030, the scope of France’s announcements in this area was widely questioned. The affair generated confusion. A year later, several associations regret the lack of progress, especially in metropolitan waters. « At a time when biodiversity is collapsing, the government is replaying the same script as the Nice conference with these designations, » criticizes Swann Bommier of the Bloom association, who deplores a « communication strategy. »
The interministerial action plan for 2026-2030 to combat plastic waste in the sea, adopted on May 26, 2025, and presented by Ms. Chabaud on the banks of the Seine in Paris, had been eagerly awaited for many months. The roadmap contains nearly 50 actions, ranging from cleaning up coastal dumps to improving our understanding of plastic flows.
According to the Surfrider Foundation, while the document demonstrates « the government’s willingness to move forward » and includes concrete actions, particularly regarding the management of biomedia and plastic waste used in some wastewater treatment plants, it lacks ambition. « The issue of rampant plastic production is the elephant in the room, and it’s not really addressed in this roadmap, » says Lisa Pastor of Surfrider.
Source : Le Monde
