The French government has called for global synergy among the countries in Africa and western world to save the oceans from the dangers of plastic waste.
Jean-François Hasperue, the Deputy Ambassador, French Embassy in Nigeria, made the call during a plastic waste awareness programme at the French Institute in Abuja on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.
Hasperue said the call for a united front become necessary as plastic waste had become one of the most pressing environmental crises facing the globe, with oceans bearing the brunt of the escalating threat.
“So, there is need for Nigeria, the rest of Africa and the global community to mobilise resources, policies and collaboration to save the oceans from the dangers of plastic waste.”
The envoy explained that from floating debris to microplastics embedded in marine organisms, the evidence of damage on the oceans has been overwhelming.
“Our panellists were explaining that the microplastics that are eaten by fish in the lagoon of Lagos might be eaten by people in Asia because fish have been taken by foreign boats and sold everywhere in the world.
“So, it’s a global issue that we need to address. And there is one specific issue, of course, we decided to address within the UN conference in Nice, is the one of Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions (BBNJ)
“This is because it has been for too many years, a gap in which we have not been able to raise cooperation among countries to save these biggest parts of the oceans.
“And I expect that we will announce that we have reached the 60 signatories for ratification by the end of this week. So, the BBNJ will be able to be implemented starting the January 1, 2026.’’
According to Hasperue, the French government is raising awareness in Nigeria particularly in Nigerian universities as part of global strategy to build capacity of students and also to rally support for empowering global local communities.
‘’We are part of a global strategy of France, because of course we would like to act at different level. We act first globally, and that’s why we decided to welcome the UN Conference on Ocean, which is actually happening in Nice from the June 9 to 13 this very week.
“And that’s why in the wake of this global conference, we wanted here in Nigeria and in Abuja to organise at our level a debate, but not only a debate here, but activities all over the month of June.”
The envoy said the French government had not less than 11 activities happening in six different states in Nigeria.
According to him, the first of all the activities is to raise awareness in Nigeria, and also rally support for empowering global local communities.
Hasperue underscored the importance of the UN Ocean Conference to addressing the dangers of plastic waste on oceans, noting that awareness creation remains very critical to ending the menace.
‘’We have to take into consideration that plastic, although it has been a solution at some point of history, that it has been now so massive, so huge, that it has become a problem.
“So, now we have to better think how to better produce plastic, how to make sure that plastic is better recycled, and how we make sure that it will less affect all life all over the world.
“They are part of a global strategy by France to not only act at the global level, but also at the level of the communities.
“So, we have a double approach, top down, but also a bottom up, to make sure that we create the link between what we are doing on the global stage to raise awareness.”
According to him, this has a translation down to the local communities. In every country, we are working with the governments and civil society organisations.
Hasperue added, “The French government is helping Nigerian universities with recycling plastic and micro plants as well as funding of projects in the universities.
‘“We have a fund of 750,000, 100,000 euros now, which is about helping universities in recycling plastic. So, within this project, we have two micro plants that will be given to Nile University and UNILAG to recycle plastic within the universities.
“We are also funding a project in five different universities.’’
Also speaking, Sebastien Bede, the Attaché for Scientific and Higher Education Cooperation at the French Embassy, pointed out that the French government has been cooperating with Nigerian partners to develop projects and implement solutions to plastic waste.
‘’So, we have this project we call the French Embassy Fund to actually develop and implement solutions to tackle plastic pollution in Nigerian university campuses. And the idea is threefold.”
According to him, the two universities: UNILAG, Nile University in Abuja, will be equipped with micro-plants to recycle plastic.
By Aderogba George