PFAS and Oceans: Five Exciting Reasons to Look Forward to 2025!

Throughout the months, setbacks have accumulated rapidly, creating a dizzying effect. The year 2025 felt like a relentless fall: wildfires, heatwaves, the enactment of the Duplomb law, violent repression against eco-activists, and attacks on science.

However, within this turmoil, ecological progress has been made. Although these advancements are not enough to reverse the trend, they have opened up cracks of hope. Before we bid farewell to the past year, Decatur Metro invites you to revisit some uplifting news it brought.

This success is especially sweet as it seemed unlikely to happen. On Thursday, February 20th, the anti-PFAS law was passed with 231 votes in favor and 51 against. The legislation, championed by Green Party Deputy Nicolas Thierry, limits the manufacture, import, and sale of products containing these so-called ‘forever chemicals’ in clothing, footwear, cosmetics, and ski waxes starting January 1, 2026.

The ban will extend to all textile products by 2030, except for those deemed “essential for certain uses”. Additionally, the law mandates testing for these substances in drinking water and introduces a tax on industries that discharge them. However, the victory is not complete, as kitchen utensils like frying pans are not covered by the law.

Moreover, two implementing decrees issued in September were quite disappointing. While the first does not adequately target major PFAS emitters and lacks any enforcement measures, the second only addresses water discharges, ignoring the contamination of sludges.

Previously unknown to the general public, PFAS are found in a wide array of everyday items, from food packaging to non-stick pans and cosmetics, valued for their non-stick, stain-resistant, and waterproof properties.

Yet, these substances accumulate in the air, water, and soil, causing illness. They negatively impact fertility, cholesterol levels, birth weight, and increase the risk of hypertension and thyroid diseases.

While the majority of vertebrates continue to decline in France, biodiversity is showing signs of renewal. The curlew, not seen for decades, has reappeared in Gironde. This bird took advantage of the massive 2022 wildfire in the Landes de Gascogne to reestablish its nests in now sparser areas.

Though this reappearance occurred without human intervention, species under active protection are gradually recovering, as revealed in a year-end report by the WWF. For instance, the flamingos, nearly extinct in Camargue, are now thriving due to wetland restoration, with over 70,000 flamingos gracing the French Mediterranean each spring. The lynx, previously extinct and reintroduced, is now flourishing again.

Another testament to the effectiveness of wildlife conservation efforts is the dolphins in the Gulf of Gascogne. A fishing closure from January 22 to February 20, 2025, led to a 60% reduction in dolphin deaths by entanglement in nets compared to the winters of 2017-2023.

Meanwhile, the golden jackal’s presence continues to expand in the territory. This canid, smaller than a wolf but larger than a fox, was spotted in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in April. First observed in France in 2017 in Haute-Savoie, it has since been seen in all metropolitan regions except Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

Elsewhere in the world, marine green turtles are faring better thanks to nesting site protection and efforts to reduce bycatch. Once threatened with extinction, the species has seen a 28% population increase over the past half-century.

Additionally, dozens of species including the okapi, manta ray, and whale shark will receive enhanced protection following the COP20 summit on international wildlife trade, which concluded in early December.

While greenhouse gas emissions continue to soar, and we remain off course, renewable energy sources (hydroelectricity, photovoltaic solar, and wind) have for the first time this year officially surpassed coal as the world’s primary electricity source, according to a report published on October 7th.

China and India have largely driven this growth. In particular, China, the world’s top emitter, saw its CO₂ emissions decrease for the first time in 2025. While this progress is still fragile, with gas and oil still predominating, it’s a significant symbolic victory, considering coal is the most polluting fossil fuel.

Simultaneously, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered a landmark advisory opinion on July 23rd. It stated that all states are obligated to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and “cooperate in good faith with each other.”

Wealthier nations must also “lead the way in the fight”, the Court insisted. Violating these obligations would constitute “an internationally wrongful act”, potentially making states liable to pay “full reparation to the injured states.”

Though not legally binding, this opinion will serve as a common foundation for courts worldwide, enabling citizens, NGOs, and countries vulnerable to climate change to demand reparations from polluting nations.

This eagerly anticipated good news arrived after more than two years of waiting. The High Seas Treaty, adopted by the United Nations in June 2023, achieved over 60 ratifications last September and will finally come into effect on January 17, 2026. France ratified it in February 2025.

The high seas, covering 64% of the oceans and belonging to no single nation, had previously lacked almost any protection. Only 0.9% of this vast blue expanse was under strong or complete protection, per the Marine Conservation Institute.

This treaty marks a first step towards expanding these sanctuaries and preserving 30% of the high seas by 2030. To achieve this, United Nations members must protect over 12 million km² annually over the next five years, more than the total area of Canada.

To practically implement the High Seas Treaty, a COP on the subject is expected to be organized by the end of 2026, following the same principle as the climate COPs tasked with implementing the Paris Agreement.

On the ocean front, there’s another reason for celebration this year: on December 3rd, the Norwegian government announced a four-year postponement of its seabed mining exploration. While Norway was the first European country to authorize deep-sea mining in the Arctic Ocean, 40 states have joined the moratorium against such mining projects, including eight this year.

Seabed mining, involving scraping the ocean floor with bulldozers to extract zinc, copper, and other metals and rare earths, risks annihilating marine ecosystems and could also disrupt the oceanic carbon sink, releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere that has been sequestered for millions of years.

Beyond these victories, 2025 also saw some ecological setbacks being avoided. One example is the Constitutional Council’s partial strike-down of the Duplomb law on August 7th. Prompted by left-wing parliamentarians, the Council opposed one of the law’s most controversial measures: the reintroduction of three neonicotinoid insecticides, including acetamiprid.

Banned in France since 2020 due to its harmful effects on pollinating insects, acetamiprid was set to be reauthorized for certain crops like sugar beets. For the first time, the Constitutional Council members based their decision on the Environmental Charter, which has constitutional value and grants everyone “the right to live in a balanced and health-respectful environment.”

The Constitutional Council also partially prevented another ecological regression. On March 20th, the Council struck down nearly a third of the agricultural orientation law. The law, crafted in response to farmers’ anger, was disastrous for biodiversity and failed even to achieve its main goal: generational renewal to ensure food sovereignty.

In detail, the “presumption of non-intentionality”, which decriminalized offenses related to the destruction of protected species, was removed. So were the principle of “non-regression of food sovereignty” and part of Article 1, which prohibited imposing stricter standards on farmers than the minimum European requirements.