Oceans, the challenge is to defend biodiversity and seabeds

Biodiversity and the seabed are the least known aspects of the oceans and that urgently need to be protected to avoid irreparable damage : this is one of the main challenges of the Third United Nations Conference on the Ocean scheduled from 9 to 13 June in Nice , jointly organized by France and Costa Rica. "It is an essential event for the planet , considering that the ocean is threatened by global warming, pollution from microplastics and acidification", observed the French ambassador to Italy presenting the conference in Rome, at Palazzo Farnese, on the occasion of the event "The night of ideas". One of the most urgent issues on the table of the Nice conference will be the theme of the exploitation of the seabed , "to be addressed in a virtuous way and without damaging the environment", observed Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, special envoy of the President of the French Republic to the Nice conference and French ambassador for the poles and the ocean of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Nice conference is a meeting in which " Italy will also play its part ", said Catherine Flumiani, special envoy of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the international dimension of the sea. The oceans are "a priority that Italy is defending", she added, referring to the Sea Plan approved in 2023. Among the objectives that Italy intends to bring to Geneva are the enhancement of the Mediterranean, decarbonization of transport and, for the future, the aim is to increase research on the oceans. "Protecting the ocean is a vital issue" also for the ambassador of Costa Rica in Italy, Istvan Alfaro Solano, who sees the Nice conference as an opportunity to promote the development of the blue economy and research. There is a real need for knowledge about the sea, considering that " less than 0.001% of the ocean floor beyond 2,000 meters of depth has been mapped so far ", observed the president of the French Institute of Maritime Research (Ifremer), François Houllier. The situation is not much different for biodiversity , with 240,000 species identified out of a total quantity impossible to determine . "We have insufficient knowledge, " he noted. While there is no doubt about the effects of global warming on the oceans, " caution is needed" to protect the seabed and biodiversity.