The Nice Ocean Summit opens with veiled criticism of Trump's plans.

Antonio Torres del Cerro

Nice (France), June 9 (EFE).- The notable absentee at the third UN Ocean Summit in Nice, US President Donald Trump, has been the target of criticism from some world leaders due to his expansionist plans and his intention to mine the ocean floor.

On the opening day of the event, the host, French President Emmanuel Macron, and, to a lesser extent, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, made these veiled criticisms, while urging the maintenance of multilateralism and the defense of science. Also joining the criticism was Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose country will host COP30 in November in the Amazonian city of Belém.

"I say it here loud and clear. The ocean depths are not for sale, just as Greenland is not for sale. Antarctica or international waters are not for sale either," Macron declared in a cutting tone, alluding to Trump's projects.

Without naming him, the French president emphasized the role the oceans play in climate change and noted that it is "not a matter of opinion, but of scientific fact."

He also spoke of the need to preserve "free and open science"—another allusion to the US administration—and mocked the world's leading power's plans to send a manned mission to Mars.

"Before we rush to Mars, it's best to get to know our best friend, the ocean," he said.

Macron believed that Nice, where 63 heads of state and government met, was the time to "reinvigorate multilateralism."

In a more institutional address, Guterres warned that international waters "cannot become the Wild West" and, to regulate this, urged countries to ratify the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ).

"Nations are also exploring new horizons in deep-sea mining: this must be done by balancing justified concerns about environmental impact with legitimate interests in resources. All of this is to support a sustainable ocean economy and the transition to green energy," he argued.

Rejection of the depredation of the seabed

Brazilian President Lula da Silva announced that his country will ratify the BBNJ by the end of the year and, alluding to the Trump administration's plans, called for an end to the "predatory mineral hunt" in the oceans.

"We cannot allow what has happened to the rules of international trade to happen to the ocean, which have been so eroded that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has become practically inoperative," Lula criticized, in a new veiled criticism of his American counterpart.

For the Brazilian head of state, the oceans cannot become "the stage for geopolitical disputes."

Reflecting the United States' lack of interest in the Nice meeting, Trump sent Edward Russo, who heads environmental issues in the White House, but not a member of his administration. During the plenary session, attention was drawn to a complaint by the Russian representative at the Summit, who accused France of not granting a visa to a Russian official who had allegedly participated in organizing the summit and preparing the declaration.

Among other speakers at the opening ceremony, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for the ratification of the BBNJ, adopted in 2023 and ratified only by Spain within the EU.

"Europe will contribute €40 million to the Global Ocean program. So today I ask everyone: please speed up ratification. The ocean needs us to play our part," Von der Leyen appealed.

Among the 63 heads of state and government present in Nice are Peruvian President Dina Boluarte; Spanish President Pedro Sánchez; and heads of state from the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader; Argentine President Javier Milei; Paraguayan President Santiago Peña; and Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves. The latter, co-chair of the Summit with Macron, asserted that, despite the millions of tons of plastic that end up in the sea each year and the fact that 90% of species are on the verge of overfishing, the ocean can "become a solution if we have the courage and intelligence to change our ways of acting." EFE

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