"The Mediterranean is on the verge of burn out." The warning is signed by Pierre Cannet, acting co-director of WWF France's programs. To raise awareness, the World Wildlife Fund has chartered the Blue Panda sailboat which, since the beginning of July, is crisscrossing the Mediterranean basin. It is expected Tuesday, August 20 in Marseille, for three days of stopover.
@WWFFrance's Blue Panda stops at #Marseille until 23.08! Raising awareness, visiting the ship, children's entertainment, signing of the #StopPlasticPollution petition .. Come many! pic.twitter.com/v1jL3uGQ7r
Sunwhere (@Sunwhere_en) August 20, 2019"Our sailing boat has a triple mission: to inform the public about the dangers related to the plastic, to engage the decision-makers on the subject and, finally, a scientific part consisting of samples to quantify the problem", explains Pierre Cannet, questioned by France 24.
At each of their stops, WWF France teams set up multiple workshops and activities on the use of plastic and its catastrophic consequences on the environment. The initiative seems to bear fruit: the #StopPlastique petition, launched by the association, has collected more than 1.3 million signatures since the beginning of its crossing.
The Mediterranean, a vital area for biodiversity
The Mediterranean Sea is a key area for biodiversity. Today, it hosts one-fifth of the world's known marine species, yet it represents only 1% of the world's waters. But human activities - aquaculture, fishing, shipping, oil and gas industry, tourism - as well as the massive rejection of plastics - nearly 600 000 tonnes per year according to the NGO - are now threatening these species.
"The region is experiencing very significant pressure related to economic activities, especially in the summer, with 200 million tourists, and the phenomenon should increase by 2030," laments Pierre Cannet.
WWF's motto for making a difference is what the NGO calls "the 3Rs": reduce, reuse, recycle.
"We must reduce the dependence on plastic, reuse plastic when we can by avoiding unique uses and finally, as a last resort, recycle," says Pierre Cannet. "It's also about returning to the order, to go to less overpackage by relearning to privilege the short circuits and the respect of the seasonal rhythms."
By crossing the Mediterranean Sea, WWF also wants the commitment of coastal cities to fight against plastic pollution and encourage them to implement concrete actions. Thus, on the occasion of the stopover in Nice on August 15, the association obtained from the metropolis and its president, Christian Estrosi, the signing of a charter to improve the situation. three years and put an end to plastic waste.
"The WWF will accompany the Nice Côte d'Azur metropolis to make a diagnosis of the territory, implement a strategy to deal with these pollution and finally implement it," says the acting co-director. "This commitment is the result of long-term work and Blue Panda also serves as a pretext for initiating this type of commitment."
France, a bad student in plastics
This promise is a victory for the NGO, which continues its work for similar commitments of the metropolis of Marseille-Aix-en-Provence and Corsica. And for good reason, France is the biggest producer of plastic waste of the 22 Mediterranean riparian countries, according to a study of June 2019 of the WWF.
"France is one of the largest plastic producers in the world, producing 4.5 million tonnes of plastic a year, too few are recycled and a quarter is rejected, there is a lot of plastic bulimia in France" , alert Pierre Cannet, before illustrating his case with the example of plastic bottles: "We know that a million are consumed every minute in the world.In France, we are among the top 6 biggest consumers of bottles This is huge. "
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"However, the message of the WWF is that if every citizen can and must act, the solution to the monster of plastic is in the hands of governments and industries," warns Pierre Cannet. "As the G7 meets this weekend in Biarritz, we call on them to commit themselves firmly against plastic pollution."