Conclusion of the UN Ocean Conference This is how bad things really are for our oceans

For five days, countries in Nice in the south of France have been struggling to protect the world's oceans because they are under pressure. What has the global community achieved?

DPA

13.06.2025, 18:47

13.06.2025, 19:00

dpa

Plastic waste, climate change, overfishing: the oceans that are so important to the planet are under increasing pressure. Representatives from around 170 countries have been discussing how to better protect the world's oceans at the 3rd UN Ocean Conference in Nice in the south of France since June 9.

Even if the expected final document is likely to fall short of the expectations of environmentalists, the meeting has made important progress. An overview of some of the key points of the meeting:

The high seas make up around 60 to 70 percent of the oceans. However, there are still hardly any regulations in international waters. The High Seas Convention, which the United Nations adopted two years ago, aims to change this. Among other things, it forms the basis for designating large protected areas on the high seas.

The states want to use it to implement the UN goal of effectively protecting at least 30 percent of the world's oceans by 2030. So far, only a good 8 percent are protected areas. However, for the agreement to come into force, at least 60 states must ratify it. Contrary to the fears of environmental organizations, the international community has come much closer to this goal in Nice.

More than a dozen states ratified the agreement at the start of the conference. This means that only a few countries are still missing the 60 mark. According to the French, this should be reached by September at the latest. OceanCare speaks of "encouraging progress".

The real music will be played in the fight against plastic waste in Geneva in August. This is where the international community wants to meet again to negotiate an agreement that will commit to curbing ocean littering. The negotiations in South Korea ended at the end of last year without agreement.

In Nice, 95 countries have now joined forces and called for the production of primary plastics to be limited. They also argued that countries should be obliged to report on the production, import and export of these substances. They also see the agreement as an obligation to gradually phase out the most problematic plastic products and chemicals in plastics.

Greenpeace praised the call to the other negotiating states in Geneva as a "wake-up call that the world needs". "The content outlined here is a good start and at the same time the absolute minimum to effectively combat plastic pollution," commented Florian Titze from WWF Germany.

In case of doubt, the states must also be prepared to reach an agreement by a majority but not unanimously if individual countries continue to block it in Geneva.

Although there is still no industrial mining in the deep sea, the ideas and plans to mine so-called manganese nodules in particular are causing many countries great concern. Studies have already pointed to the considerable dangers of mining for the ecosystems there. Germany and 36 other countries want at least a precautionary pause on deep-sea mining, meaning that no such projects will be supported until further notice.

The issue has taken on new urgency because the USA under President Donald Trump is now considering deep sea mining in international waters. In Nice, 24 states took a firm stand against such considerations.

According to international law, deep-sea resources outside national waters are the common heritage of mankind and may therefore only be managed collectively by the International Seabed Authority (ISA): "Any potential deep-sea mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction that takes place outside the international legal framework (...) would be contrary to international law."

Members of the ISA are the European Union and around 170 states, but not the USA. The ISA plans to meet again in the summer to discuss a globally accepted set of rules for deep-sea mining.

Progress was also made on numerous other issues in Nice. Together with France, Germany wants to identify the exact location of munitions dumps in the Baltic and North Seas; a group of states wants to advance the fight against noise pollution in the ocean and Unesco wants to promote marine education more strongly.

However, OceanCare Executive Director Fabienne McLellan warns that UN ocean conferences are touchstones for whether the international community can achieve the goals it has set itself to protect the oceans by 2030. "These include the measurable reduction of marine pollution and the transition to sustainable fishing methods. However, we are still a long way from achieving these goals."

The next UN Ocean Conference is planned for 2028. It will be hosted by South Korea and Chile. In addition to France, Costa Rica was a co-organizer this year. There have already been two previous UN Ocean Conferences: 2017 in New York and 2022 in Lisbon.

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