Keynote speech by John Keefe – Cross-Channel Geopark Festival 2025
Thank you for inviting me to speak at this opening event of the Cross-Channel Geopark Festival, in such a magnificent emblem of our joint histories.
A project which can connect landscapes and cultures, tourists, businesses and nations in one go is something very special.
To be able to do it across an international sea is unique.
To have a tunnel that runs through the historic heart of the geology that brings it all together is almost a fantasy, but here, across the Short Straits between Kent and the Hauts-de-France, it is just an every day reality.
There are, I believe 9 UNESCO recognised geoparks in France and 10 in the UK, amongst some 229 worldwide. Each represents a unique geology, landscape and community.
But none have a thriving international, cross-Channel, maritime continuity, nor are any linked through their core by an undersea tunnel tracing the geology that our landscapes are built on.
This is a unique landscape, a unique, bi-national community and a fascinating demonstration of how a geopark can form the centre of a vital international link for tourism, travel and trade.
Apart from the populations and businesses of our local town and village communities, 20 million passengers and 260 Billion pounds worth of trade pass through the short straits every year, bringing enormous economic and leisure benefits to the populations of our two countries. This is set to increase further in future as more high speed rail links bring the UK ever closer to the continent, connecting London beyond Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, to Frankfurt, Cologne, Geneva, Zurich, Marseille and Bordeaux – and hopefully bringing back international services to Ashford and Calais-Frethun.
The chalk was formed 100 million years ago and the Channel was formed at the end of the ice age. The Channel Tunnel was built only just over 30 years ago, but it is here because of the Blue Marl, that thin, soft and impermeable layer that cuts across the Channel at the perfect depth and orientation to join our two countries
The Tunnel has one major role: to connect.
To connect our countries, our landscapes, our populations, our businesses, our schools and young people, to enable travel and to enable trade and to protect and enhance the environment whilst doing that.
Eurotunnel is fully aligned with the principles of the UNESCO Geopark project. We promote sustainable development, we partner with our local communities and businesses, and seek to preserve and improve our landscape and lived environment
Eurotunnel is proud to be at the heart of the UNESCO Geopark project and proud to be the Founding Business Partner for the Cross-Channel Geopark.
But we don’t want to be alone. We believe that the attention the Geopark will bring to our cross-Channel region is an opportunity for all. Businesses across our region should join us and get behind this fabulous initiative that will preserve our landscapes, enrich our tourism, protect our communities and provide opportunities for growth.
I encourage other businesses to join this initiative, to work in partnership with us, with our communities and with Unesco to drive this project forward, to preserve and enhance our unique bi-national culture, our unique environment and to deliver that growth our economies depend upon.
Thank you!
About John Keefe
John Keefe is the Group Director of Public & Corporate Affairs at Getlink, having joined Eurotunnel in 1993 and held roles across training, communications and public affairs in both the UK and France. He became Group Director of Public & Corporate Affairs in 2023. With an academic background in geology and economics, he has long worked on cross-Channel cooperation and representation for Eurotunnel, including engagement with regional partners on both sides of the Strait of Dover.