Dai Minhan, director of the Fujian Ocean Innovation Center, delivers a video address at the first Neptune Forum. [Photo/en.xmu.edu.cn]
The Fujian Ocean Innovation Center (Fujian-OI) has officially joined Mission Neptune as a Mission Partner, while Dai Minhan, its director and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been appointed to the program's Scientific Council.
Mission Neptune was announced by French President Emmanuel Macron in June 2025 at the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3). The program aims to advance multilateral scientific exploration of the global high seas and unexplored deep-sea areas, addressing challenges including deep-sea ecosystems, biodiversity, and ocean carbon cycling.
The program seeks to expand scientific knowledge of the deep ocean and support the implementation of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement), which aims to conserve and sustainably use marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
The first Neptune Forum was held on June 8 at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, officially launching the program. Director Dai delivered a video address during a session on planetary oceans, saying deep-sea exploration has become a strategic necessity linked to global governance and planetary sustainability.
Dai met with Ashok Adiceam, executive director of Mission Neptune, and his team during a visit to the program's secretariat in Paris on June 15, with discussions focusing on deep-sea biodiversity conservation, high-seas governance, and international scientific cooperation.
Director Dai poses with Ashok Adiceam, executive director of Mission Neptune, during a visit to the secretariat. [Photo/en.xmu.edu.cn]
