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For three days, political leaders and representatives of the private sector, civil society and the scientific community from around the world gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss the prospects and potentials of a "blue economy" "sustainable, namely all human activities. on and around oceans, rivers and lakes, and their impacts on the development and health of our planet.
Oceans, rivers, lakes, coasts, mangroves and the seabed are essential elements of our environment, which we rely more and more on: oceans-based industries bring about 1, US $ 5 trillion to the global economy, fishing and aquaculture supporting the livelihoods of 12% of the world's population, not to mention tourism.
About 2.8 billion people live within a hundred kilometers of a coast. Yet, an increasing number of ecosystems and species are threatened by pollution, overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change in the context of continued growth of the world's population.
This is where scientists have a major role to play. By understanding the subtle mechanisms by which all this is linked, they help us identify threats and limits not to be exceeded to avoid irreversible disasters.
Joining forces with the political authorities, the private sector and the people, they are key players in shaping the sustainable blue economy of today and tomorrow.
Their mobilization and catalytic action have already produced results on the world stage. In 2015, the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 14) "Conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources" was adopted, followed by the creation of the Oceans and Climate Platform at COP21 in Paris. . In June 2017, the first Oceanographic Conference Conference adopted nine ocean action communities to support and monitor the implementation of OBD 14.
Terrestrial plastic pollution in the oceans has finally become a priority on the international agenda and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is working on a comprehensive strategy for the oceans.
Oceanologists and other marine habitat specialists also contribute significantly to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
Along the way, the scientific community has contributed to the consolidation of an international legal order of the environment, including through multilateral environmental agreements and regional seas conventions.
In the run-up to the upcoming United Nations Conference on the Ocean, to be held in Lisbon in 2020, the Nairobi Conference provides the world with another crucial and timely opportunity to hear from scientists on the means needed to in place a truly sustainable blue economy.
France therefore thanks the University of Nairobi and the Kenyan Government for mobilizing as many high-level participants for the symposium on science and research.
The next One Planet Summit, also to be held in Nairobi in March 2019, will build on the conclusions of the Nairobi conference to further advance the path to a sustainable blue economy by putting the world in the spotlight. focus on concrete actions in Africa.
A sustainable blue economy is being addressed multilaterally for one reason: Oceans, rivers and biodiversity do not recognize borders and the union of forces is the only way to achieve anything.
Science is no exception in this respect. Thus, France is betting on teams and coalitions of multinational and multidisciplinary scientists to produce and promote cutting-edge knowledge. Indeed, all the French scientists present at the Nairobi conference belong to multinational teams working on multinational projects: the PADDLE consortium, which works on more inclusive models of spatial planning, production and ocean governance, is financed by the European Union and brings together French partners, Portugal, Germany, Senegal, Brazil and Cape Verde, all coordinated by a French scientist from the Institute of Research and Development (IRD), Dr. Marie Bonnin .
Closer to Nairobi, researchers from Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar are members of the Western Indian Ocean Delta Exchange and Research Network (WIODER), supported by French research. and Canadian, focusing on socio-ecosystem and landscape transformations in river deltas. .
The Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA), currently chaired by a Kenyan scientist from the Kenya Institute for Sea and Fisheries Research, Dr. Jacqueline Uku, in partnership with IRD Reunion Island .
Present in the three oceans, member of the six regional seas conventions and with the second largest exclusive economic zone in the world (EEZ), France has systematically advocated for the development of existing marine protected areas and the creation of new protected areas . each.
Marine protected areas cover 22% of French territorial waters, including the largest in the world in New Caledonia (1,300,000 km²). With a sense of urgency, France also advocates tirelessly for the protection of endangered species such as whales, the fight against plastic pollution of the oceans and the preservation and restoration of coral reefs and mangroves.
Recently, he has been actively involved, with the European Union, in the creation of a new international instrument to protect biodiversity on the high seas under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. .
Our lakes, rivers, seas and oceans are essential elements of the environment in which we live, build and prosper.
Scientists are first-hand witnesses of how they work and their benefits, but also the damage that uncontrolled human action can produce and, ultimately, bring back on us.
It is therefore their duty to alert us to these threats. But it is our collective responsibility to listen attentively to them and then take the necessary action.
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