Global Ocean Summit in Nice ends with a raft of pledges for marine protection

The port of Nice echoed with the sound of the Foghorns on Friday: a Crescendo Brassy that marks the closure of the third United Nations Conference, a rare sample of global unity.

Moments before, around 170 nations, adopted by consensus a radical political statement promising an urgent action to safeguard the ocean.

“We close this historical week not only with hope, but also with a specific commitment, a clear direction and undeniable impulse,” said Li Junhua, Undersecretary General of Economic and Social Affairs of the UN and Secretary General of the Summit.

Co-elbitrion for France and Costa Rica, the five-day conference attracted more than 15,000 participants, including more than 60 heads of state and government to the Mediterranean coast. With more than 450 secondary events and almost 100,000 visitors, the meeting, known as UNOC3, built on the impulse of previous conferences in New York (2017) and Lisbon (2022).

The Summit culminated in the adoption of Nice Action Ocean Action; A two -part result that includes a political declaration and more than 800 voluntary commitments of governments, scientists, civil society organizations and UN agencies. These cover from defense led by youth and public education in deep water ecosystems, to the development of science and innovation capacities, and undertake to ratify key treatments.

“The amplitude of the commitments reflects the scale of the oceanic crisis,” Li said. Among the highlights: the European Commission promised 1 billion euros towards marine conservation, oceanic science and sustainable fishing. French Polynesia announced the creation of the world’s largest marine area, its entire exclusive economic zone, for a total of around five million square kilometers.

Germany launched an initiative of 100 million euros to eliminate ammunition in times of war from the Baltic and North seas. New Zealand committed NZ \ $ 52 million to reinforce the governance of the Pacific Ocean, while Spain presented five new protected marine areas.

A coalition of 37 nations led by Panama and Canada launched the high ambition coalition for a quiet ocean, addressing underwater noise pollution. Meanwhile, Indonesia and the World Bank introduced a ‘coral bonus’ to finance the conservation of coral reefs.

“The waves of change were formed,” added Mr. Li. “Now it is our collective responsibility to boost them forward, for our people, our planet and future generations.”

The summit opened Monday with urgent warnings. “We are not registering the ocean as what it is, the best global common,” said UN Secretary General, António Guterres, along with Presidents Emmanuel Macron de France and Rodrigo Chaves Robles of Costa Rica. Everyone asked for a renewed multilatery based on science.

Olivier Poivre D’Arvor (right), Special Envoy of France for the Conference, in UNOC3; S Closing Press Conference, in Nice. Photo/a/des

For Friday, the special envoy of France for the conference, Olivier Poivre D’Arvor, reflected on the bets: “We wanted in Nice … risk with a transformative change. I think we have advanced, but we can no longer gowards.”

One of the key objectives of the summit was to accelerate the impulse behind the Treaty of the High Seach, an officer of biodiversity beyond the National Jurisdiction Agreement (BBNJ), adopted in 2023. It requires 60 ratifications to enter into force; With 19 new ratifications only this week, the total is now 50.

“This is a significant victory,” said Mr. Poivre D’Arvor. He pointed out the remarkable absence of a high -ranking American delegation, as well as the recent executive order of President Donald Trump that advances deep water mining. “Abyss is not on sale,” he said, echoing previous comments from President Macron.

However, the French envoy stressed the broad consensus reached in Nice. “A country can be missing,” he said. “But 92 percent of the” co -owners “were present today.”

His counterpart Costaricen, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arnoldo André-Tinoco, emphasized the need for financial monitoring. “Each commitment must be responsible for the hero,” he said in the closing session.

For Peter Thomson, the UN special envoy for the ocean, the conference marked a milestone. “It is not so much what happens at the conference: it is what happens later,” he told the UN news, reflecting on the evolution of the global ocean defense since the sustainable development objective 14 (SDG14) was created in 2015.

“From the desert in which we were at that time to where we are now: the level of commitment is remarkable.”

Looking towards the future, Focus is already resorting to the fourth UN Ocean Conference, scheduled for 2028 and be organized by Chile and South Korea. Thomson expressed the hope that the big rates, including the BBNJ treaty, the WTO fishing subsidies and the next global plastic treaty, will be ratified and implemented by then.

With the deadline of 2030 SDG14 that was quickly approaching, he said it was time to increase ambition. While the initial objective was to protect 10 percent of the ocean by 2020, an objective that was lost, the new goal is to safeguard 30 percent by 2030.

Using a shell necklace endowed by the Marshall Islands, Thomson praised the leadership of the small island nations and the states of Atolón to boost the ambitious marine protections. “If small countries can make great measures like that, why can’t large countries do the same?” Hello Ash.

Hi, he also praised the 2,000 scientists who attended the One Ocean Science Congress in the days before the summit. “What a great way to direct things,” he said.

Li Junhua, the Undersecretary General of Economic and Social Affairs of the UN and the General Secretary of UNC3, at the Castre Press Conference, in Nic. Photo/a/des

Despite the tone of celebration to a large extent of the summit, the tensions remained. The small states in development of the island (SMSM) pressed a stronger language in “loss and damage”: the impacts of climate change that exceed the ability of countries to adapt. “You cannot have a statement from the ocean without SMSM,” warned a delegate at the beginning of the week.

Others, including the president of Costa Rica, Chaves, requested a moratorium on deep water mining until their risks can be evaluated by scientists, a position not reflected in the final declaration.

Neverberthes, the political declaration adopted in Nice; Titled OCECEAN, OUR FUTURE: United for Urgent Action*-Lepe the Global Commitments to protect 30 percent of the ocean and the Earth by 2030. It is aligned with key frames such as the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Agency in 2022) and

“The real test,” concluded Mr. Li, “is not what we said here in Nice, but what we do next.”

When the sun stood behind the promenade des Anglais and the final plenary postponed, the sea, old, vital and in danger, was a silent witness of a fragile but shared promise.