Ocean’s Future Secured? 170 Nations Pledge Bold Conservation
NICE, (IANS)- The 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference concluded with more than 170 countries adopting an intergovernmental agreed declaration committing to urgent action to conserve and sustainably use the world’s oceans.
The political declaration titled ‘Our ocean, Our future: United for urgent action’ calls for concrete steps to expand marine protected areas, decarbonize maritime transport, combat marine pollution, and mobilize finance for vulnerable coastal and island nations, among others.
The declaration — together with bold voluntary commitments by states and other entities — constitutes the Nice Ocean Action Plan, successfully concluding the five-day conference with a boost to environmental multilateralism.
Voluntary commitments made during the conference include: The European Commission, as part of its Ocean Pact, announced an investment of 1 billion EUR to support ocean conservation, science and sustainable fishing.
French Polynesia pledged to create the world’s largest marine protected area to safeguard its seas, covering its entire exclusive economic zone, approximately 1.93 million square miles.
New Zealand committed over $52 million towards supporting enhanced ocean governance, management and science in the Pacific Islands region.
Germany launched a 100 million EUR immediate action programme for the recovery and clearance of legacy munitions in the German Baltic and North Seas — the first of its kind.
Indonesia, the World Bank and other partners launched a Coral Bond, a groundbreaking financial instrument designed to mobilise private capital to conserve coral reef ecosystems within marine protected areas in Indonesia.
Thirty-seven countries, led by Panama and Canada, launched the High Ambition Coalition for a Quiet Ocean — the first high-level political initiative to tackle ocean noise pollution on a global scale.
Italy committed 6.5 million EUR to strengthen surveillance by the Coast Guard in marine protected areas and on oil platforms, including through a satellite surveillance system capable of detecting potential oil spills in real time.
From June 9 to 13, as many as 55 heads of state and government, along with 15,000 participants from civil society, business, and science, participated in the UN Ocean Conference co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, including more than 450 side events, to accelerate action and mobilise all actors to conserve and sustainably use the world’s oceans.
Ten ocean action panels produced forward-looking recommendations to guide implementation across key themes — from marine pollution and nature-based solutions to the role of women, youth, and indigenous peoples in ocean governance.
The fourth UN Ocean Conference in 2028 will be co-hosted by Chile and Korea.
