All About the UN Ocean Conference 2025: Ocean Health, Climate Action, and Blue Economy in Focus
From June 9 to 13, 2025, the Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) will take place in Nice, France. The focus is clear: speed up global efforts to protect the ocean. This includes saving marine life, reducing pollution, and promoting a sustainable blue economy.
Co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, the UN Ocean Conference 2025 themes up on, “Accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.”
The conference will support work on Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14), which focuses on ocean health and states, “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”
The main goals of the Ocean Conference include;
- Advance Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) on ocean conservation.
- Complete international agreements like the High Seas Treaty.
- Increase funding for sustainable ocean use.
- Enhance ocean science to inform climate policy.
The event aims to bring together 193 UN member states, world leaders, scientists, non-government groups, businesses, Indigenous peoples, and other stakeholders to address growing concerns over the health of the world’s oceans and their overexploitation.
Also Read: Marine Pollution: Causes, Effects, and Solutions
Each day of the five-day event will start with plenary sessions where countries speak about their commitments. In the afternoon, there will be “Ocean Action Panels”—discussions where experts and groups propose real world solutions.
Three events will happen before the main conference:
- One Ocean Science Congress (June 4–6 in Nice) – Over 2,000 scientists will attend.
- Ocean Rise & Resilience Coalition Summit (June 7 in Nice) – The summit will unite coastal and island leaders to boost cooperation and funding for adapting to sea level rise and climate change.
- Blue Economy and Finance Forum (June 7–8 in Monaco) – Will push investments in the blue economy.
A “Green Zone” will be open to the public from May 28 to June 13 to raise awareness about ocean protection and its sustainable use.
The conference is expected to produce a major agreement called the Nice Ocean Action Plan. It will include political commitments and voluntary pledges.
It will support Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14) with three main goals to shape the strong Nice Ocean Action Plan. According to the official website of the conference, the three priority areas are:
Priority 1
Work towards the successful completion of ocean-related multilateral processes to raise the level of ambition for ocean protection.
Priority 2
Mobilizing funding for SDG14 and supporting the development of a sustainable blue economy.
Priority 3
Strengthen and better disseminate marine science knowledge for better policy-making.
UNOC3 will build on the 2017 New York and 2022 Lisbon Ocean Conferences. The conference seeks to unite global efforts in protecting oceans; vital for climate regulation, biodiversity, and human livelihoods.
The ocean covers over 70% of Earth and supports life, trade, food, and jobs. But climate change, pollution, and overfishing are major threats.
