More than a hundred activists from the Terra coordination, made up in particular of several associations for the defense of the environment and health, brandishing signs «No to pollution», «Healthy living is a fundamental right» or even «No -assistance to planet in danger», castigated the increasing rotations of these polluting ships around the island.
Criticizing the use for «recreational purposes» of «large quantities of hydrocarbons, a fossil fuel which contributes very largely to climate change», Muriel Segondy, spokesperson for the environmental defense association Le Garde, said quoted a report from ANSES (the national health security agency) of July 17, 2019, which “confirms with strong levels of evidence, the effects on health” of cruise stopovers.
The activist also points out that in «Ajaccio, as in Bastia, the economic justification for advanced cruises has not been demonstrated» and that «in any case, it does not offset the cost of the impacts on health, on the environment and the living environment of the inhabitants.
Corsica has a record number of 473 cruise ship stopovers this year, including 227 for the city of Ajaccio alone.
«While inflation is watching us and we are being called upon to be more energy efficient, according to yacht CO2 tracker, between September 3 and 9, 59 luxury yachts cruised around Corsica, they consumed more one million liters of fuel and produces a total of 2,667 tons of CO2, including 719 tons of CO2 in the direct vicinity of the island», she further advanced.
A petition calling for a ban on cruise ships in Ajaccio in the face of pollution, comparable to actions launched in Marseille and around the Mediterranean, passed the milestone of 26,600 signatories on Wednesday in a city of around 71,000 inhabitants.
The discontent against cruise ships is rising all over the French Mediterranean coast, as was already the case in Spain or Venice (Italy) which has banned these large cruise ships in its historic center, classified by Unesco.
A European mobilization against mass tourism is planned for the end of September.