The 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in Nice, France, has been widely regarded as a turning point in global efforts to protect the oceans. Attended by nearly 200 countries, UNOC focused on accelerating commitments to existing treaties, particularly the High Seas Treaty, and addressing urgent issues like plastic pollution, illegal fishing, and destructive marine practices. The world’s oceans face a convergence of threats, from rising temperatures and coral bleaching to overfishing and vast plastic contamination, prompting international leaders to act decisively.
One of the most celebrated outcomes of UNOC was the dramatic increase in ratifications of the High Seas Treaty. The agreement, signed in 2023, aims to place 30% of the world’s international waters into Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) by 2030. Before the conference, only 27 of the 60 required countries had ratified the treaty. Within days, that number surged to 50, with additional nations pledging to ratify before the end of the year. Experts hailed this as a record pace for any United Nations environmental treaty, signaling a powerful wave of global momentum.
High-profile voices such as Sir David Attenborough emphasized the urgency of halting harmful fishing practices like bottom trawling, which devastates seafloor ecosystems and threatens marine biodiversity. Echoing this, the UK committed to banning bottom trawling in nearly a third of its national MPAs. French Polynesia went even further, announcing the world’s largest protected marine area in its waters—spanning 900,000 square kilometers and forbidding extractive activities such as industrial fishing and seabed mining.
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing also took center stage. China, which operates the world’s largest fishing fleet, ratified the Port State Measures Agreement during the conference—a move widely seen as a step forward in curbing illegal fishing practices. However, Russia maintained its opposition to the High Seas Treaty, citing concerns about its impact on national fisheries.
Plastic pollution remained a pressing concern. Scientists estimate that over 171 trillion pieces of plastic already pollute the ocean, with numbers expected to triple by 2040 unless production is significantly curbed. Toxic chemicals in plastics pose serious risks to marine life, ecosystems, and even human health. Ministers from 97 countries signed a joint political statement calling for a strong global treaty on plastics. However, only one top oil-producing country—Canada—joined the statement, reflecting the tension between environmental goals and economic interests tied to fossil fuel production.
While the conference did not yield new emissions-reduction commitments, it did reinforce calls from vulnerable nations like Tuvalu for greater access to climate finance. Many small island states stressed that existing global funding mechanisms remain slow and unresponsive.
Despite lingering disagreements, UNOC was seen as a success in restoring faith in multilateral ocean governance. With the passage of the Nice Ocean Action Plan and renewed national commitments, the world took meaningful steps toward safeguarding the ocean. As John Kerry noted, UNOC proved that international cooperation remains a powerful force when countries choose to work together on behalf of the planet.