In June 2025, 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNCO3) concluded in Nice, France. The 5-day conference brought 15,000 participants, including over 60 Heads of State and Government.
- The conference culminated in the adoption of the “Nice Ocean Action Plan”, featuring a high-level political declaration titled “Our Ocean, Our Future: United for Urgent Action”, reaffirming global commitment to protecting marine ecosystems and accelerating actions under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)14 (Life Below Water).
- The conference concluded in a shared call to expand marine protection, prevent pollution, regulate the high seas, and unlock financing for vulnerable coastal and island countries.
Note: UNCO3 was built on the momentum of previous ocean summits held in New York, the United States of America (USA) (2017) and Lisbon, Portugal (2022).
India at UNCO3:
Union Minister of State (MoS) (IC) Dr. Jitendra Singh, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), representing India at the UNCO3. During his address, he called for a global ocean pact to safeguard marine resources and highlighted India’s key achievements in areas such as deep-sea exploration, marine plastic pollution mitigation, and the promotion of sustainable fisheries.
- During the conference, he Launched the ‘SAHAV’ portal, a digital platform for ocean data access, developed to enhance ocean-related decision-making.
- During the event, he reiterated India’s support for the ratification of the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) and called for the finalization of a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty.
Key Progress Made by India to Protect Oceans:
i.Union MoS Dr. Jitendra Singh also highlighted about the developments under India’s Deep Ocean Mission including progress on India’s 1st manned submersible, ‘Samudrayaan’ project, which is expected to be deployed by 2026.
- The project aims to explore ocean depths up to 6,000 meter (m).
- He also underscored about expansion of India’s Marine Protected Areas, which now cover 6.6% of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
ii.He further pointed to key outcomes from India’s ‘Swachh Sagar Surakshit Sagar’ campaign, which has cleaned more than 1,000 kilometer (km) of India’s coastline and removed over 50,000 tonnes of plastic waste since 2022.
- He also informed that a draft marine litter policy has been prepared, and India continues to support negotiations on a Global Plastics Treaty aimed at a legally binding global framework.
iii.He also provided details on India’s Blue Economy initiatives like: more than 600 port-led infrastructure projects valued at USD 80 billion have been developed under the Sagarmala Programme.
- The fisheries sector has received investments of USD 2.5 billion under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), which resulted into a 10% increase in fish production and the formation of over 1,000 fish Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs),
iv.He further highlighted that the restoration of more than 10,000 hectares (ha) of mangroves and the implementation of shoreline managements plans using nature-based solutions.
- India has also integrated ocean-based climate actions into its NDCs under the Paris Agreement.
Key Outcomes of UNCO3:
Coalition of Emerging Ocean Leaders (CEOL) Launched :
The Coalition of Emerging Ocean Leaders (CEOL), a global alliance of youth and Early-Career Professionals (ECOPs) working across science, policy, innovation and civil society, was officially launched at UNCO3.
- The newly launched initiative aims to use young voices into decision-making spaces to drive equitable and effective ocean action.
- They will charge on ocean sustainability, climate resilience, and marine protection.
5 Key Goals of CEOL:
i.International Dialogue: It includes train youth in ocean diplomacy; and co-host global side events and policy interventions.
ii.Inclusive Governance: It aims to secure ECOP seats in high-level negotiations and monitor youth participation across major ocean events.
iii.Network Capacity Building: It aims to provide workshops and skill sharing sessions; and strengthen connections across regional networks.
iv.Collective Communication: It aims to promote visibility of youth-led ocean actions and coordinate digital outreach across various platforms.
v.Policy Impact: To establish regional working groups and advise on local and global marine policy initiatives.
‘High Ambition Coalition for a Quiet Ocean’ Launched:
During the UNCO3, a coalition of ministers from 37 countries, led by Canada and Panama launched a new declaration named ‘High Ambition Coalition for a Quiet Ocean’, the 1st global political coalition aimed to reduce harmful noise pollution and its negative impacts on marine biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.
i.The new global coalition is committed to the advancement of including noise reduction protocols and quieter shipping designs in their Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
ii.Other 35 Countries member of the coalition: Austria, Belgium, Belize, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Malta, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Uruguay.
Voluntary Commitments Made at UNCO3:
During UNOC 3, participants made more than 800 voluntary commitments focused on advancing ocean conservation, addressing marine pollution, and promoting sustainable fisheries.
i.Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the Brussels (Belgium)-based European Commission (EC), announced the launch of the first-ever European Ocean Pact. To achieve the key goals outlined in the pact, the EC plans to introduce an Ocean Act by 2027.
- The pact includes a commitment of EUR 1 billion to support ocean conservation, marine scientific research, and sustainable fishing practices.
- Additionally, the EC pledged to reduce plastic and nutrient pollution by 50% and restore 20% of Europe’s marine ecosystems by 2030.
ii.Moetai Brotherson, President of French Polynesia, announced the establishment of the world’s largest Marine Protected Area (MPA), encompassing the territory’s entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), covering nearly 5 million square kilometers (over 1.9 million square miles).
- Additionally, the French Polynesian government committed to expanding highly protected areas by an extra 500,000 square kilometers(sq.km) by World Ocean Day 2026(June 8).
iii.The government of Germany officially launched a 100 million Euro immediate action programme for the recovery and removal of legacy munitions in its Baltic and North Seas, the 1st of its kind.
iv.At UNCO3, New Zealand has pledged more than USD 52 million towards supporting improved ocean governance, management and science in the Pacific Island region.
- New Zealand has also committed USD 45 million towards supporting Sustainable Pacific Fisheries development from 2022 to 2028.
Spain Announced 5 New MPAs:
While addressing the plenary session of UNCO3, Pedro Sanchez, President of Spain announced the creation of 5 new MPAs on Spain’s coastline, which will result in ‘protection’ for 25.7% of its sea, which will be 5.8% more than in 2023.
- These 5 new protected areas, which will be incorporated into the Natura 2000 Network, are: the Mallorca Channel seamounts, the Seco de Palos seamounts and field of pockmarks, the Capbreton tributary canyon systems, the banks and gorges of the Alboran Sea and the Central Catalan Coast Marine Area.
- In addition to these new protected areas, Mar de las Calmas National Park (NP) and the sperm whale breeding area in the north of Menorca will get protected area status in next months.
UNCO3 Adopts ‘Nice Ocean Action Plan’ Declaration:
On the concluding day of UNCO3, nations unanimously adopted a political declaration titled ‘Our ocean, our future: united for urgent action’, emphasizing that the ocean plays a vital role in reducing the adverse effects of climate change.
- The declaration, also known as ‘Nice Ocean Action Plan’, called for improved global action to minimize the impact of climate change and ocean acidification.
Key Points:
i.The declaration stressed on the significance of the full and effective implementation of the Conservation on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its protocols, as well as the Kunming-Montreal Global Diversity Framework.
ii.The declaration called on States to promote awareness and education campaigns at local, national, regional and international levels to inform about the public about the significance of a healthy ocean and resilient marine ecosystems.
iii.The declaration recognised that SDG 14 (Life Below Water) is one of the least funded goals and that accelerating ocean action globally requires large and accessible finance.
iv.This new declaration which is not legally binding, called for adequate and scaled-up means of implementation for developing countries like: Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), to fix SDG 14 funding gap.
- All nations which had participated at UNCO3, agreed to bolster the provision of scaled-up resources in these nations, including public, grant-based and concessional finance, non-debt instruments and other concessional finance from multilateral development banks (MDBs) like World Bank (WB).
One Ocean Science Congress :
In addition to the main conference, the One Ocean Science Congress held from June 3 to 6, 2025, which aimed to generate science-based outcomes and recommendations to support the global discussions at UNOC3.
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