From February 9 to 11, scientists, world leaders, and international companies will meet in the port city of Brest in Brittany, France, for the One Ocean Summit. The meeting will focus on inspiring the international community to heighten their objectives concerning the protection of marine life, tackling plastics pollution, and addressing the impacts of the climate crisis.

The world’s five oceans cover 70 percent of our planet and are home to millions of marine species. They are important climate regulators, provide much of the world’s food, and are the waterways of trade, but don’t get nearly as much attention as land ecosystems, according to Phys.org.

“The climate has its Cop process but there is no equivalent for the ocean, at a time when man’s relationship with the marine world has become more and more toxic, and global heating is causing extreme change,” said One Ocean Summit chief organizer Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, as reported by The Guardian.

President Emmanuel Macron of France — whose country is currently acting in its six-month capacity as president of the EU — convened the ocean summit, which will address efforts at improving high seas governance and coordinating international scientific study.

The summit will host representatives from more than 55 countries, Poivre d’Arvor said, as The Guardian reported. There will be meetings addressing sustainable shipping, rising sea levels putting cities at risk, marine science and other topics, bringing together about 300 entrepreneurs, researchers and international organizations.

Ocean advocates at the summit are calling for an end to France’s exploration of the ocean’s deepest trenches, as well as petitioning to protect dolphins from being killed accidentally by fishing boats off France’s coast, Phys.org reported.

Read the full article about ocean summit by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes at EcoWatch.