Turning mud into tiles, growing corals… Concrete initiatives to save the ocean

We know that the ocean covers 71% of the planet’s surface and represents more than 90% of the habitable volume for the living world. It is the main reservoir of biodiversity. it is home to 240,000 known species and almost twice as many other species that have yet to be identified. It also plays an essential role in sustaining life on Earth, particularly in terms of climate regulation. every year it absorbs 30% of the CO2 emitted by humans into the atmosphere and more than 90% of the additional heat due to greenhouse gas emissions. . To do this, it needs healthy ecosystems, but also urgent political action as it warms, acidifies, loses oxygen and drowns in pollution… Faced with the scale of the disaster, the UN declared an “ocean emergency” last year. reminding that “more than half of marine species could disappear by 2100”. To change the situation, civil, economic, technological or biological initiatives must converge. Here are five hope bearers.

In the video, Plastic Odyssey, an expedition that transforms waste into resources

Cultivate farmed coral

It’s about restoring endangered dams, essential cogs of biodiversity, and the feat was accomplished by Australian biologist Peter Harrison. He grows the coral before grafting the larvae onto the Philippine Reef or the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest living structure. Its purpose is twofold. restore it and help it adapt to climate change to ensure its survival for decades to come. His technique, the first to operate on a large scale, is potentially replicable and adaptable across ecosystems and regions of the globe.

Prevent deep sea mining

Or, in French, seabed mining, which consists of sending machines to plow the seabed and extract from the abyss rare metals such as manganese, cobalt or nickel, which are useful for the production of batteries. Along the way, these mining machines destroy precious biodiversity that is still poorly understood. The oceans, and particularly the seabed, absorb about a third of our global carbon emissions. Therefore, moving the ocean floor can release millions of tons of greenhouse gases. Veritable climate bombs released into the atmosphere that will accelerate an already dramatic disruption. While around thirty exploration permits have already been granted by the UN’s International Seabed Authority (AIFM), mining remains prohibited. But until when? Its worldwide release could be decided as early as next July. It is to prevent this that NGOs, activists and scientists have been raising the alarm for years. Young activists have launched the Look Down campaign on the topic and have already helped convince twelve heads of state, including Emmanuel Macron, who once supported mining, to speak out against it. Objective? Let the majority of the heads of states imitate him.

Treat gray water

This is the challenge of the moment in responding to drought and crop irrigation problems, of course. But also to prevent this gray or used water from flowing directly into rivers and therefore into the oceans. The wastewater reuse rate in France is only 0.6% compared to 8% in Italy, 14% in Spain or 90% in Israel… Hence the urgency to accelerate. The water plan published by Emmanuel Macron at the end of March aims to increase this figure to 10% by 2030 by financing 1,000 projects. Veolia is one of them. The environmental giant, which has been working on the problem for nearly twenty years, has decided to deploy an innovative system in 100 wastewater treatment plants across the country. In general, about 3 million cubic meters of drinking water will be saved in this way. Start-ups are entering the race, such as Lyon’s Tree Water, which has developed technology to recycle industrial water (such as washing water) and clean groundwater from industrial sites by eliminating 40 micropollutants in one action.

Change the boat paint

To protect them polluting An Anglo-Saxon term meaning fouling by a layer of living micro-organisms that settle on the hull after months in seawater, the boats are coated with chemical paints specially designed to repel them. In total, that’s more than 100,000 tons of paint antifouling which are used every year in the world, including 20,000 tons in Europe. Each square meter of the hull treated in this way contains an average of 15 grams of biocide, one gram of this product pollutes 10,000 cubic meters of water… Hence the brilliant concept invented by the Finsulate company in the Netherlands. shells with an adhesive membrane composed of millions of fibers of several millimeters, which reproduce the role of shells. And thus preventing the attachment of marine organisms to the hull mechanically, and no longer chemically. The company, which today is present in several countries, including France, has won many awards, but 90% of its activity still relies on yachts. Its challenge is to lure fishermen and merchant mariners.

Recycle marine litter

A pile of clay, sand, remains of algae and shells, salt… This is what makes up the sediments that silt up some French ports and the mouths of rivers flowing into the ocean. In France, it is estimated that 40 to 50 million cubic meters of mud must be dredged each year. This opaque material is now often thrown into the sea, contributing to drowning the seabed. This will be banned from 2025, as well as the accumulation of sludge in landfills near ports. So what to do? Tile, answer the founders of Brest startup Gwilen. Through a process inspired by nature, they transform the vase into colorful tiles and small decorative items with a very artificial aesthetic.