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World News: UNOC 3 Highlights for 9 June 2025, Nice, France – “the Ocean is not for sale,” and underscoring the need for an ambitious plan of action for a healthy, sustainable, and productive Ocean

“The Ocean speaks to us through bleached coral reefs, more frequent and harsher storms, wounded mangroves, and species that will never return,” emphasized Rodrigo Chaves Robles, President of Costa Rica, in his opening remarks, highlighting the urgency to address Ocean-related challenges.

Hosting the third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3), Nice, France, is the world’s capital of Ocean governance for this week, attracting thousands of delegates. Co-hosted by the Governments of Costa Rica and France, the Conference elected President Robles and Emmanuel Macron, President of France, as co-presidents.

In opening remarks, President Macron stressed the need to revitalize multilateralism, emphasizing that “the Ocean is not for sale,” and underscoring the need for an ambitious plan of action for a healthy, sustainable, and productive Ocean.

“What has been lost in a generation can return in a generation,” stressed UN Secretary-General António Guterres, calling to move from plunder to protection, exclusion to equity, and short-term exploitation to long-term stewardship of the Ocean.

During the opening plenary, speakers highlighted, among other things:

  • the need for timely ratification of the Agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement). Dominica, Greece, Norway, and Romania informed of their recent ratifications, bringing the total number to 33, while others expressed their commitments to do so;
  • the importance of a moratorium or precautionary pause on deep-sea mining to allow for the effective protection of deep-sea ecosystems, with Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Slovenia joining the relevant call, bringing the total number of countries opposing deep-sea mining to 36;
  • the significance of the 30 by 30 target of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) for a network of marine protected areas; and
  • the fight against plastic pollution, calling for timely finalization of the UN Plastics Treaty.

The rest of the day was devoted to general debate, which saw more than 20 heads of state reaffirm their commitment to the Ocean and showcase national efforts to protect marine ecosystems. The full set of statements can be found here: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1r/k1rmasi4sn

Two interactive Ocean Action Panels took place in the morning and afternoon. The first, co-chaired by Marina Silva, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Brazil, and Stavros Papastavrou, Minister for the Environment and Energy, Greece, and moderated by Kristian Teleki, CEO, Fauna and Flora International, focused on conserving, sustainably managing, and restoring marine and coastal ecosystems.

Participants, among other things:

  • stressed the need for interconnectivity in addressing interlinked environmental challenges;
  • highlighted the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies;
  • urged forging bold partnerships to accelerate progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14, life below water) in a way that leaves no one behind; and
  • emphasized the urgent need for adequate and accessible finance, capacity building, and technology transfer, particularly for small island developing states (SIDS) and least developed countries.
The second Ocean Action Panel, co-chaired by José Manuel Fernandes, Minister of Agriculture and the Sea, Portugal, and Javier Martínez-Acha Vásquez, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Panama, and moderated by David Obura, Chair, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), addressed Ocean-related scientific cooperation, knowledge, capacity building, marine technology, and education to strengthen the science-policy interface for Ocean health.

Participants, among other things:

  • called for recognizing Ocean observation and data systems as global public goods;
  • urged addressing significant knowledge gaps in an inclusive, equitable, and community-led manner;
  • emphasized the need to foster Ocean literacy, including through culturally-grounded knowledge transmission to future generations; and
  • called for strengthening the science-policy-society interface, while ensuring the independence of Ocean science and knowledge, and the transparency and accountability of decision-making based thereupon.