The “Year of the Oceans” in France will begin in 2025, according to Emmanuel Macron’s announcement on Thursday. In a video message posted to Twitter from Mont-Saint-Michel (Manche), the President of the Republic explains, “We will launch a series of initiatives to work, prepare, mobilise, and raise awareness in schools, colleges, high schools, and the professional world.” The timing is not picked haphazardly.
He stated that Nice will host the United Nations Conference on Oceans in 2025.
“The oceans are at the heart of our destiny and that of humanity,” emphasizes the Head of State. This is especially true because “France is the second maritime power in the world, thanks in particular to our overseas territories.” Interspersed within this video sequence are interventions from scientists and explorers. Among them are Jean-Louis Étienne, as well as Romain Troublé, CEO of the Tara Ocean Foundation, and Françoise Gaill, President of the Ocean Sustainability Foundation and CNRS researcher.
The Élysée Palace also emphasizes that it has already launched a “highly ambitious research program” to better understand the deep sea.
It receives an endowment of 50 million euros, and it dedicates four missions with a budget of 100 million euros each to develop exploration drones, particularly around the marine volcano of Mayotte. The goal is to enhance our understanding of these unique and unknown ecosystems.
“These efforts in exploration and strengthening of our scientific knowledge will accelerate,” and “the President will have the opportunity to discuss them further in the coming weeks,” states the same source.
