For five days, from 9 to 13 June 2025, Nice hosted the Third United Nations Conference on the Oceans (UNOC3), a global event that brought over 170 countries, 55 heads of state and 15,000 delegates from governments, science, civil society and private sector.
The main result was the adoption of the Nice Ocean Action Planaccompanied by a political declaration that relaunches the commitments for the implementation of theSustainable development objective 14 of Agenda 2030dedicated to the protection of the oceans.
An Ocean Summit in Nice Closes With Wave of Commitments to #Saveourocean https://t.co/ivno5ksq1
– a news (@un_news_centre) June 13, 2025
A global plan for an ocean in danger
The final declaration, entitled “Our Ocean, Our Future: United for Urgent Action“, Recognizes that international action does not proceed at the speed or the necessary scale. The urgency of:
The agreement also underlines the role of international law, recalling the UN Convention on the right of the sea, and the direct link between Oceans, climatic crisis and biodiversity.
Treated on the upper sea: one step away from the street
During the summit, another 19 states ratified the Treaty on marine biodiversity in the areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ), reaching 51 ratifications (50 countries + European Union). There are only nine missing for its entry into force.
The Treaty, approved in 2023 after 15 years of negotiations, is considered a fundamental piece to create 30 × 30, since it will allow the creation of protected marine areas even on the high seas, still still without systematic protection.
New protected marine areas: records and new promises
There French Polynesia He announced the institution of the largest protected marine area in the world: 4.8 million km², equal to the entire exclusive economic area. 20% of the area will be subject to full protection, while the rest will admit only traditional fishing, scientific research and ecotourism.
Other commitments came from Australia, Colombia, Samoa, Tanzania, São Tomé and Príncipe, Solomon Islands and Greece. The sum of these new ads, according to WWF estimates, could bring global protection from current 8% to over 10%.
Blue finance: steps forward, but still insufficient
Significant funds have been announced:
However, the goal of 175 billion dollars per year to achieve the goal 14 remains far away. Nice’s plan invites you to involve the private sector more, with tools such as Blue Bonds, payments for ecosystem services and environmental impact finance.
The unresolved challenges: plastic, mines and climatic crisis
If on the one hand the progress are evident, on the other they remain crucial issues:
Second Pepe ClarkeWWF Oceans Leader, “the conference has given a new impulse to marine conservation, but if we do not face the climatic crisis at the root, ecosystems will continue to get rid of”.
New initiatives: sharks, whales and shared data
Among the novelties that emerged in Nice, they include the launch of the Global Coalition to Halt the Exingration of Threateneed Sharks and Rayspromoted by France, to protect essential species for marine balance and the platform Bluecorridors.orgcreated by WWF and partner, which integrates decades of data on whale monitoring with maps of threats and conservation solutions.
Both aim to improve protection and management policies based on scientific data.
And Italy?
Italy, present at the top, has announced the strengthening of the technological surveillance of the AMP, but remains outside the ratifications of the BBNJ treaty. WWF Italia hoped for a turning point:
“Our country has a strategic role in the Mediterranean. It is time to take a concrete leadership to protect the sea, support a moratorium on the Deep Sea Mining and contribute to the global 30 × 30″ goals ” – said Giulia Prato, WWF Italia sea manager.
The budget: “wind in the stern” yes, but a solid route is needed
According to the UN Secretary General António Guterresthe greed is “the true enemy of the oceans”. Nice’s political declaration created a undeniable momentum, but without concrete implementation, monitoring and political courage, the objectives at 2030 risk remaining unattainable.
The next challenge is already on the horizon: the Cop30 on the climatein Belém (Brazil). It will be there that it will be understood if the ambition expressed in Nice can translate into systemic and coordinated action to save the future of the oceans.
