Brest, 9-11 February 2022
“Better protect the ocean and build fruitful initiatives in terms of research and international policy” was the commitment made by President Emmanuel Macron when announcing the One Planet Summit for the Ocean: the One Ocean Summit. This summit was held on 9-11 February 2022 in Brest, under the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union and with the support of the United Nations. The main commitments that emerged during the summit included the conclusion of a treaty for biodiversity in the high seas, which currently does not have any legal protection, the fight against plastic pollution, the establishment of new marine protected areas, and the mapping of 80% of the seabed by 2030.
Alongside the main events that gathered more than 400 stakeholders from all over the world, the centre for the discovery of the oceans, Océanopolis, welcomed the general public with a dedicated One Ocean Summit programme. The One Ocean Summit pavilion, a genuine 360° deciphering of the themes being addressed at the summit, offered open conferences, round table discussions, exhibitions and encounters with experts over three days and nights. In this context, iAtlantic scientists Jozée Sarrazin and Marjolaine Matabos from Ifremer were invited to contribute to discussions and exchanges with the public. Wednesday 9 February was dedicated to topics concerning Ocean, Science and Society and biologist Marjolaine Matabos participated in the round-table discussion on “An ocean with and for society, participatory sciences” to present Deep Sea Spy – a programme that enables citizens to help in the annotations of deep-sea imagery from the Lucky Strike vent field (see video, right).
Another event was held at Oceanopolis on Thursday 10 February, focusing on “The governance of the high seas and the protection of its biodiversity“. Biologist Jozée Sarrazin was invited to introduce deep-sea mineral resources. Her presentation was followed by a debate between two “false” experts and a vote from the public to the question “Do you want to exploit deep-sea mineral resources?” (see video, left).
