On all continents, men and women are fighting for the environment. This week, Match met the navigator, on the occasion of the One Ocean Summit, organized to preserve the most promising treasure of humanity.
Paris Match. In a world that reacts quickly to economic logic, we have the feeling that manufacturers or start-ups are not rushing towards the “blue growth” in which you believe so much. Why ?
Maud Fontenoy. We are at the dawn of a revolution, just as we had a spatial, digital, nuclear revolution. Why are we hanging around a bit? Because it lacks a strategic vision at the highest level of the State, a long-term objective with a fixed course, appropriate regulations, financial support accordingly. The sea holds incredible potential. But we invest 100 times more in space than in maritime. However, it is an immense library that is within our reach. I’ll give you a few examples: shark skin whose structure prevents bacteria and microbes from adhering. A start-up has created a coating of this type, which will cover the interior of hospitals, precisely to prevent the proliferation of staphylococci. A French researcher is working on the blood of marine worms 40 times more charged with oxygen than human hemoglobin, which could be used in the event of a stroke and is already used to preserve grafts. The pacemaker of tomorrow is inspired by the heart of the whale, this 600-kilogram gangue of fat traversed by a network of nanofibrils which makes it possible to capture the electricity produced naturally by the body to operate a pacemaker without a battery. There is also the glue that comes from small worms and will be used in surgery because it leaves no residue. Or even plastics from shrimp, polymers from oysters, a painkiller, already marketed by Sanofi, 1,000 times more powerful than morphine: it is produced by a small shell, the “magician cone”. The ocean already provides elements that go into the composition of 22,000 medicines! In AZT, the tritherapy against AIDS, certain elements come from herring. We understood the proliferation of carcinogenic cells thanks to the starfish. We are working on Alzheimer’s with a small jellyfish. We are interested in “immortality” by studying how the lobster self-repairs its telomeres. It’s fascinating ! And we only know 3 to 5% of marine biodiversity. The sea has so much to teach us. But we prefer to burn our “books”, for a little energy, rather than study them.
Access to drinking water is one of tomorrow’s key challenges. In a warming world, do you believe in excessive desalination?
Of the 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water the Earth has, only 3% is fresh water. And of this 3%, 0.3% of “accessible” fresh water. So, in the end, we have very little water, and it is unevenly distributed on the globe. The Amazon area, for example, which receives a lot, has very little population. For continents like Africa, it is the opposite. Desalination will be essential. Even if we are talking about aquifer resources that would be under the sea and whose water potential would be much greater than what humanity dreams of.
With Jean-Michel Blanquer and Elie Semoun, at the Paris aquarium in November 2021. Two years earlier, the minister appointed her ambassador for sea classes with national education. © Claire Delfino
As part of One Ocean Summit, wanted by President Macron, you will lead a workshop devoted to the education of the youngest, who are often very aware of the issues. Shouldn’t their parents be educated instead?
Youth is the best lever for action. Any transformation will go through it. They need to learn to know, because that’s how you learn to love. So to protect. I have worked with the Ministry of National Education for twenty years. We talked a lot about the green planet, the Amazon rainforest and Borneo… and so much the better. But we have long forgotten the oceans. Yet they occupy three quarters of the planet. Life was born in the depths of the oceans, 4 billion years ago, before spreading on earth. Even if the dolphin, this marine mammal, followed the opposite path, which can still be seen in its fins: there are clearly phalanges. He joined the sea for his survival. I like this idea that man will also return to the sea to find solutions.
Why do you have the feeling that the French are neglecting maritime issues?
Tabarly said: “For the French, the sea is what they have on their back when they are on their towel at the beach.” And yet, France is the world’s second largest maritime power, with 11 million square kilometers under our jurisdiction. The European continent is even the leading maritime power in the world! We must remember that our life depends on the sea. The oceans regulate the climate, are essential for the oxygen we breathe. They are also the cooking pot of humanity. Thanks to desalination, they even provide drinking water to 400 million people! And yet, we believed that we could reject everything there, from the gigantic quantities of armaments between the two wars to the tons of rubbish today. And all that plastic is coming back to our plates. We would each swallow 5 grams per week, the equivalent of a credit card! When the nanoparticles enter the cycle, we cannot get rid of them. This is why plastic fragments are found in placentas or fetuses.
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Shark skin, sea worm blood, whale heart… We are on the eve of a medical revolution
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But the sea is also geostrategic and economic issues. So a logic of domination by the great powers. What can France do, alone?
Indeed. There are those who continue to expand without worrying too much about the rest, like China. With the new Silk Road, wanted by Xi Jinping, the Chinese have bought or built 196 ports in the world. In Europe, we talk about Trieste, Valencia, Hamburg, Athens, and even parts of the port of Marseilles… They have understood that whoever dominates the sea will dominate the world. Maritime flows are the routes of the global economy. And France risks being left behind because it does not sufficiently open up its ports. The challenge is both ecological and economic. The maritimization of a country does not stop at a policy of protected areas.
Is environmental concern not incompatible with economic development?
It is not a question of reproducing at sea the mistakes made on land. The sea is not a spare planet. I hope that we have matured on these questions. Today, it is essential that we devote more resources to research. This is one of President Macron’s wishes. Better understanding is better preserving. We have very advanced research centers, whether they come from industry or start-ups. So much the better for all the professions that will come out of it: in the energies of tomorrow, marine biotechnologies, aquaculture, bio-algae… I dream of a large house of the sea and even more ambitious programs. We have to support the industries that exist but need a vision. So, a clear state strategy.
Isn’t that the case with this One Ocean summit?
With others, I pushed hard for it to take place. February 9 and 10 will be devoted to workshops. The 11 will bring together the Heads of State. When all the actors of the sea are mobilised, it bears fruit. Today, the question is how we are going to reduce plastics in the oceans and limit pollution. With each washing cycle in our washing machines, there are between 20 and 30 million plastic microparticles rejected! A start-up has invented a filter but it is not mandatory. Worse still, 60 of the largest cities in the world have no sewage treatment plant. Everything goes back to the sea. You should know that 60% of the high seas are outside jurisdiction. This will be one of the key aspects of the summit. We have treaties on the seabed, not on the water columns. As the second maritime power, France must take the lead on this subject.
Many people do not understand that we stigmatize overfishing, while ensuring that the oceans are a reservoir to feed humanity. Explain this paradox to us.
A third of the world’s population would not be entitled to protein if it did not have access to the ocean. And that’s why we have to stop making these floating factories that destroy biodiversity. France is indeed the third European fisherman, behind the United Kingdom and Spain. But the whole of European fishing represents only 4% of world fishing! China alone is almost half. Not to mention illegal fishing: 30 million tonnes each year with outlaw boats, ports of convenience that accept illegal goods. And a colossal waste. Seven million tonnes caught “inadvertently” and discarded because the fish are crushed, or too small or do not meet quotas. And yet, as we have seen with the bluefin tuna, if we decide to do so, the results come quickly. We can do as for toothfish fishing in the South Seas: people on board who watch. Most French fishermen practice artisanal fishing, with boats under 12 meters. We have to support them. It is possible to continue to eat fish, but in a reasonable way. Raising species that themselves consume, for 1 edible kilo, 4 to 5 kilos of fish, or even 9 to 10 for bluefin tuna, is absurd. There are many vegetarian fish and start-ups that know how to develop meals with seaweed. I am not a fan of degrowth or a collapsologist. Man can give meaning to progress. It must be inspired by nature. Biomimicry is one of the themes that I develop in my educational programs. It is possible to design an intelligent economic development in connection with the sea, with concrete solutions.
On March 17 at 2:30 p.m., Maud Fontenoy will participate with Guillaume Néry, Jacques Rougerie and Philippe Berterottière in a live conference organized by Paris Match on its social networks, “Our oceans: present and future challenges”.
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