One month before the Nice Oceans Summit, France's ambitions remain very unclear

With just over a month to go before the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in Nice, from June 9 to 13, it's difficult to see what the French government wants to do with this event. A summit meeting with an ambitious final declaration to demonstrate a common will in the face of Donald Trump's United States? Or a meeting that will allow progress on a few issues such as pollution and illegal fishing, but without global ambition? "Between the very tense geopolitical context and the economic turmoil, this is a very complex meeting to organize and, above all, to plan. We're moving forward on sand," confides a diplomatic source, while it 's still unclear how many heads of state will be making the trip.

On Monday, May 5, the Minister for Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, convened the France Ocean Committee, which brings together around a hundred representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and scientists. Ahead of the UNOC, the objective was to share, "with all stakeholders, the state of [the] thinking in a very important period for maritime issues."

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