Macron: "Before we rush to Mars, it's better to get to know our best friend, the ocean."

Nice (France), June 9 (EFE).- French President Emmanuel Macron said that "before rushing" into exploring Mars, "it is better to get to know our best friend, which is the ocean," during the opening of the third UN Ocean Summit, being held in Nice, France.

"Before we rush to Mars, it's better to get to know our best friend, the ocean," Macron said at the summit plenary session, alluding to US President Donald Trump, who opposes exploring the ocean floor but is opposed to accelerating the race to the red planet.

Also, in another veiled criticism of Trump, he asserted that neither "Greenland nor the Arctic are for sale" and emphasized that the role of the oceans in climate change "is not a matter of opinion but of scientific fact."

In a trenchant speech, Macron spoke of the need to preserve "free and open science"—another allusion to the US administration—and said it was time to "reinvigorate multilateralism."

The French president announced that one of the main objectives of this Summit will be met: to have at least 60 countries endorse the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions (BBNJ), approved by the UN in September 2023.

Macron emphasized that ocean protection is essential for the climate and biodiversity, but also for the 3 billion people living in coastal and island areas, affected by rising water levels caused by melting ice caps.

"They are the first victims, many of them from African states, who have come in large numbers," he noted. EFE