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To mobilize the European and international community and to take concrete action to reduce or prevent this pressure, the President of the French Republic has decided to organize a One Planet Summit dedicated to the ocean from 9 to 11 February 2022, in Brest, a major European maritime city. This One Ocean Summit will be held as part of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union and with the backing of the United Nations.
The ocean covers over 70% of the surface of our planet, and yet too often it remains on the sidelines of major events on the international and European agenda.
As a regulator of the major environmental balances and especially the climate, provider of all kinds of rich natural resources, a major channel for trade, a vital link between countries and human communities, the Ocean is today threatened by the effects of climate change, pollution (especially due to plastic) and the over-exploitation of marine resources.
To mobilize the European and international community and to take concrete action to reduce or prevent this pressure, the President of the French Republic has decided to organize a One Planet Summit dedicated to the ocean from 9 to 11 February 2022, in Brest, a major European maritime city. This One Ocean Summit will be held as part of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union and with the backing of the United Nations.
The goal of the One Ocean Summit is to raise the level of ambition of the European and international community on maritime issues and to convert our shared responsibility for the Ocean into concrete action.
It will be the opportunity to reaffirm that the ocean lies at the heart of the challenges facing the Europe of today and of tomorrow. Through the example of the ocean, we will illustrate what our new European growth model could be: a Europe leading maritime power in the world which is more sovereign, more blue, more digital, more social and more humane; a Europe that reaffirms its vital role as a counterweight in the international governance of the ocean, and plays its full part in bringing about international mobilization for the ocean in 2022.
On 9 and 10 February, over thirty events, workshops, forums, events, encounters and initiatives will be held ahead of the high-level segment, to mobilize the European and international maritime community. These will cover a multitude of themes of global scope to discuss the ocean in all its dimensions, and provide solutions, in addition to the observations already made.
On the morning of 11 February, the President of the French Republic will invite Heads of State and Government from EU member States, Heads of State and Government from third countries, the President of the European Commission, heads of multilateral institutions, business leaders, decision-makers and civil society stakeholders to meet, for the purpose of making ambitious commitments. Several major initiatives will thus be launched on this occasion to protect marine ecosystems and sustainable fishing activities, fight pollution, address the effects of climate change and promote better governance of the oceans.
The three-day events of the One Ocean Summit will be held at the Ateliers des Capucins. Other activities, open to the public, will be held in several sites around Brest.
The purpose is to share initiatives and solutions with the stakeholders of this first edition of the One Ocean Summit, and to take concrete action to address the major challenges threatening the future of the ocean.
How to get involved
In order to respond rigorously to the current health situation, the One Ocean Summit will host, in person, the main professional stakeholders who are particularly engaged at international level. Other stakeholders will intervene remotely. The entire summit will obviously be transmitted and accessible live on the Internet. A platform to view the events, including the high-level segment, and interact with the participants on 9 and 10 February has been set up: http://accreditation.oneoceansummit.fr.
All the exchanges over the course of these three days will be translated into several languages.