By Marinel E. Peroy
Protecting our oceans is a vital step toward a healthy planet for future generations, supporting biodiversity, and maintaining a balanced global climate.
This is highlighted by speakers in a recent event held at Admiral Hotel, an official launch of the Blue Nations initiative between France and the Philippines, spearheaded by the French Embassy in Manila. This serves as a pivotal step in advocating for the maritime ecosystem in the forthcoming UN Ocean Conference which will be co-hosted by Costa Rica and to be held in Nice, France from June 9-13, 2025.
“We see that there is no preservation of the oceans, no preservation of biodiversity without taking into account the daily life of the communities that are living from fishing parts, and also to the question of the freedom of navigation in the West Philippine Sea, and going into the Indo-Pacific region — everything is relative and that’s exactly what we tackled with the blue nations initiative,” H.E. Marie Fontanel said.
The French envoy also believes that this Blue Nations initiative is only a ‘starting point’ and that the upcoming months will be filled with more key advocacies and mutual goals to share between France and the Philippines.
Beneath the waves of shared knowledge and insights are the intricacies of the maritime ecosystem, encountering threats from maintaining sustainable use of natural resources, economic stability, and even maritime security – as underscored in the comprehensive presentations. One of those speakers is Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit, President of the Stratbase ADR Institute, who shared how the Philippines serves as a rising middle power in the Indo-Pacific region, having its critical geostrategic value in the regional security landscape.
Following the topic “Asymmetric Security Challenges in a Multipolar World: The Evolving Indo-Pacific Security Landscape”, he explained that the Philippines is “at the receiving end of gray zone tactics in the West Philippine Sea, whereas the WPS also encounters issues that impact its biodiversities and marine resources such as illegal coral harvesting and artificial island building.
Manhit also highlighted how the WPS functions as a “home of submarine cables” that connect to major economic players such as the US, EU, and Japan — a vital waterway in the Indo-Pacific as maritime and economic security are closely linked.
On the other hand, the Philippines and France share a mutual interest in ways to approach climate action. Sen. Loren Legarda’s speech emphasized on SDG 14 – life below water, touching base points on carbon sequestration, coastal protection, and fisheries.
She also shared about Senate Bill No. 2450, a bill she is sponsoring under Committee Report No. 138 — an act establishing a framework for the blue economy, promoting stewardship and sustainable development of coastal and marine ecosystems and resources.
“It is frequently said that we are separated by oceans, when in fact, it is the oceans that connect us all… and we enrich it for our own benefit and the generations to come,” Legarda concluded.
To sum up the afternoon activity, a multi-award-winning documentary The Blue Quest Palawan by Clément Pourtal and Jérôme Brousse was showcased to the audiences about the marine protected area of Pangatalan in Palawan.
Indeed, collaborative efforts to protect our oceans ensure that these vast waters do not turn “blue” from abuse of use, but instead flourish toward marine prosperity. Such a partnership between France and the Philippines proves that it can turn the tide towards a greener, more sustainable future for all life here on Earth.
A marine protected area is the one tool with which you can effectively conserve all levels of marine biodiversity from genes to species to the ecosystem. There are no other tools for achieving that outcome as effectively. –– Edgar Graham, Marine ecologist ###