Macron says protecting environment is ‘battle of the century’ on visit to Chamonix

France is to restrict access to Mont Blanc in the Alps in an effort to halt reckless summit attempts and protect the biodiversity of the mountain and its surroundings.

Emmanuel Macron announced the new rules during a visit to Chamonix on Thursday when he visited the famous Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) glacier, which has shrunk dramatically over the last 20 years.

“What we see with this glacier melting is irrefutable evidence of global warming,” Macron said after visiting the 4.7-mile (7.5km) glacier.

He said the fight for biodiversity was urgent and a “fight for our own survival”. “It’s the battle of the century,” Macron said.

He announced a new agency, the French Office of Biodiversity (OFB), to monitor and protect the environment.

The French government is to establish a protected zone around Mont Blanc and limit the number of people who can access the summit, which at just over 4,800 metres is the highest in western Europe.

Climbers will also be asked for proof they have planned their ascent, that they have reserved places at reservations en route and are carrying specified equipment.

Macron’s visit came after Jean-Marc Peillex, mayor of Saint Gervais – near Contamines-Montjoie, where a coronavirus outbreak was reported last week – wrote to the Elysée claiming the free-for-all on the mountain was risking lives and damaging the environment.

“It is all well and good to worry about the Amazon rainforest, but to ignore what is happening on Mont Blanc and to allow this disrespect to continue is intolerable,” Peillex wrote last September. He said “oddballs” were polluting the mountain, citing a recent attempt by a former British Royal Marine to summit Mont Blanc for charity while carrying a full-sized rowing machine, which he abandoned on the path down.

As many as 30,000 people attempt to climb Mont Blanc every year – around 200-300 a day. Some ignore weather and safety warnings and many leave rubbish on the mountain.

Peillex continued: “The difficulty is that if we start listing everyone’s madcap schemes then we’ll finish up with an endless list. There will always be someone willing to do something new or original that new rules haven’t imagined. The idea is to be reasonable. What’s this site for? Is it a place for opera or to advertise desserts? Isn’t it better to give it back its original vocation for mountaineering and skiing? If the president supports this kind of thinking we will have won.

“Today, 99% of people are shocked by what happens on the summit of Mont Blanc … Let us allow people to go on Mont Blanc, but let us set the rules. When you go to someone’s house, you’re not the one who sets the rules. You don’t put your feet on their table. It’s the same here.”

The Mer de Glace has lost more than 65 metres in depth and 300 metres in length since 1996.