12 June 2025 - With one day remaining before the conclusion of the Third UN Ocean Conference, delegates in Nice are preparing for the adoption of the summit’s eagerly anticipated political declaration. Small island developing States, facing the direct effects of climate change and marine resource decline, are pushing to ensure their perspectives are reflected in global ocean policy.
With the conference, known as UNOC3, set to close Friday, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Li Junhua, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, told UN News on Thursday that the past four days have been marked by a rare sense of solidarity around Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) – protection life below water.
“This is the true testament to the impact of this Conference on the future of our ocean,” he added.
Draft outcome signals sense of urgency
Under way since Monday on France’s sun-drenched Côte d’Azur, UNOC3 is set to conclude with the adoption of a consensus-backed package aimed at securing the future of the world’s oceans.
Delegates are preparing to endorse a political declaration alongside a sweeping set of voluntary commitments from participating nations – collectively known as the Nice Ocean Action Plan.
The declaration itself, titled ‘Our Ocean, Our Future: United for Urgent Action,’ has undergone four rounds of intense intergovernmental negotiations at UN Headquarters in New York since January, alongside informal consultations with key delegations and civil society groups.
At the heart of the conference’s mission – mobilizing action to safeguard and sustainably manage marine ecosystems – the declaration, in draft form, signals a marked shift in tone, underscoring an unprecedented sense of urgency.
It calls for immediate and transformative measures to protect oceans, reflecting growing concerns over climate change, biodiversity loss, and the depletion of marine resources.
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