© Erwan AMICE / LEMAR / CNRS Images
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To mark #WorldOceanDay on June 8th 2026 a new scientific programme is launched in Paris. The 'Neptune Mission': a scientific coalition focused on the high seas and the seabed.
© Erwan AMICE / LEMAR / CNRS Images
View the mediaA year after the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC-3) comes the launch of a new scientific programme on the high seas and the seabed. Mission Neptune will explore these little-known ecosystems to provide scientific insight for debates about the international governance of the ocean.
Even today, the high seas and the seabed are still less explored than our moon or the Red Planet. This new consortium is launched in Paris on June 8th 2026 to mark the United Nations World Oceans Day at the Neptune Forum, a high-level international gathering for scientists, public decision-makers, economic stakeholders, international organisations and representatives from civil society.
The CNRS will draw on its multidisciplinary approach in the framework of the Neptune Mission's scientific advisory board to mobilise the international research community.
Although the ocean covers 70% of the planet’s surface, it has long represented a ‘blind spot’ in international negotiations. Ocean is the planet's largest biosphere, and is home to up to 80 percent of all life in the world. It generates 50 percent of the oxygen we need, absorbs 25 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions and captures 90 percent of the additional heat generated from those emissions. It is not just ‘the lungs of the planet’ but also its largest carbon sink - a vital buffer against the impacts of climate change.
Read our feature on plastic pollution in the oceans, one of the greatest environmental tragedies of recent decades. Explore other ocean-related issues (biodiversity, climate change...) thanks to a selection of photo and video reports that we have made for you.
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