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Japan Today
a day ago
- Politics
- Japan Today
World leaders head to France for U.N. summit on ocean threats
The UN Ocean Conference is seeking to bolster global protections for the world's over-exploitated and polluted seas, and all that rely upon them By Nick Perry World leaders descend on the French Riviera on Sunday ahead of a high-level summit to tackle a deepening crisis in the oceans driven by overfishing, climate change and pollution. The United Nations says oceans face an "emergency" and leaders gathering in Nice will be under pressure to commit much-needed money and stronger protections for the ailing seas and the people that depend on them. The U.N. Ocean Conference must try to turn a corner as nations feud over deep-sea mining, plastic litter and exploitative fishing, against a backdrop of wider geopolitical tensions. Some 50 heads of state and government are expected to attend, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Argentine counterpart Javier Milei. On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to sail to Nice from Monaco, where he is attending a related event aimed at raising private capital for ocean conservation. He will be joined on the shimmering Mediterranean Sea by other vessels in a colorful maritime parade, before touring an exhibition centre on land transformed into the cavernous belly of a whale. That evening, Macron will host leaders for a dinner of Mediterranean fish ahead of the summit's formal opening on Monday. Peaceful demonstrations are expected over the five-day event and France has deployed 5,000 police to the heritage-listed city where scientists, business leaders and environmental activists are also attending in big numbers. A strong turnout is also expected from Pacific Island nations, whose delegations will demand greater financial assistance to fight the rising seas, marine trash and plunder of fisheries that threatens their very survival. The United States under President Donald Trump -- whose recent push to fast-track seabed mining in international waters sparked global outrage -- is not expected to send a delegation. Conservationists have warned the summit -- which will not produce a legally binding agreement -- risks being a talk fest unless leaders come armed with concrete proposals for restoring marine health. Chief among these is securing the missing finance to get anywhere near protecting 30 percent of the world's oceans by 2030, a globally agreed target. "We've created this sort of myth that governments don't have money for ocean conservation," Brian O'Donnell, director of Campaign for Nature, told reporters. "There is money. There is not political will," he said. So far, only around eight percent of oceans are designated marine conservation zones and even less are considered truly protected. Greenpeace says at this rate, it could take another 82 years to reach the 30 percent goal. In a boost this week, Samoa declared 30 percent of its national waters under protection with the creation of nine new marine parks. Conservationists hope others at Nice follow suit. "All eyes should be on the many Pacific leaders attending... Their ambition and dedication to ocean protection can serve as inspiration to all countries," said Kevin Chand from the nonprofit group Pristine Seas. There has also been a concerted push for nations, including France, to ban bottom trawling -- a destructive fishing method that indiscriminately scrapes the ocean floor. On Saturday, Macron told the Ouest-France newspaper that bottom trawling would be restricted in some national marine protected areas. Inching closer toward the numbers required to ratify a global treaty on harmful fishing subsidies, and another on high seas protection, will also be a summit priority. France is spearheading a separate push in Nice to build support for a moratorium on deep-sea mining ahead of a closely-watched meeting of the International Seabed Authority in July. On Sunday, an expert scientific panel will hand Macron a list of recommendations for leaders at the summit, including pausing seabed exploration when so little is known about the deep oceans. © 2025 AFP
Telegraph
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Starmer accused of hiding behind ‘cringey cliches' over Ukraine peacekeepers
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused by military experts of hiding behind 'cringey' cliches over his plans for a peacekeeping coalition in Ukraine. John Foreman, a former UK defence attache to Moscow and Kyiv, told The Telegraph there were concerns that the Prime Minister's initiative was proving hollow and had no clear objectives. It came as US and Russian officials on Monday began talks in Riyadh to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine. Despite 30 nations meeting last week at Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood for talks led by Lt Gen Nick Perry, the commander of joint operations, the Government was unable to set out what concrete plans had been made regarding the number of troops and equipment each country could send to Ukraine. Speaking after the meeting, Sir Keir said the coalition, which was launched on March 2, had moved from 'political momentum' to 'military planning'. However, Mr Foreman said: 'If the Government won't level with the people, especially things on national security, they will rightly ask what is going on? 'We are a mature democracy with centuries of parliamentary procedures and a free media. The Government needs to treat us like adults, not hide behind cringey, gnomic cliches.' He said Sir Keir's words amounted to a 'tentative first step', adding: 'They are still in the very early part of the planning process, with weak strategic objectives. 'People both in the military, and also those involved intimately in the military planning process, feel sorry for General Nick Perry who has been landed with the baby due to unrealistic political assumptions.' PM 'owes us an explanation' It comes after The Telegraph revealed that senior military figures had dismissed Sir Keir's coalition as 'political theatre' with 'no defined military end-state or military-strategic planning assumptions'. One said Sir Keir had 'got ahead of himself' when he pledged to put boots on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a peace deal. Mr Foreman said: 'It's all well and good to say 'boots on the ground and planes in the air' but Starmer owes us all – parliament, service personnel, their families, and the public – a much greater and clearer explanation of what's going on and what he wants to achieve rather than hiding behind cliches. 'It's part of being a democracy, you don't have to spell out the military detail but you can give a broad indication of principle: what do we want the mission to do? Defend? Deter? Reassure? Each of these missions will require a different level of force, and come with different risks.' He said other areas where the Government had failed to be transparent included the Strategic Defence Review, which is due to be published in spring but has yet to appear, and the fact that a defence equipment spending plan has not been published in over two years. Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy, recently dismissed Sir Keir's coalition as 'a posture and a pose' and accused the 30-nation cohort of being 'simplistic'. The White House has pledged to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine by April 20, when Easter Sunday falls in both Western and Orthodox churches. However, a senior Army source told The Telegraph that any plan the coalition comes up with would only be 'viable' with the guarantee of a US backstop. 'Without that, [Vladimir] Putin will just rule it out as a red line and other European nations will not commit,' he said. The Government has been contacted for comment.
