9 June 2025 , Nice France - Pacific sounds from French Polynesia rung out loud and clear on the French Riviera on Monday morning where French President Emmanuel Macron opened the third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3).
Guided by the theme “Accelerating action and mobilising all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean,” the five-day meeting in Nice France, and co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, is the latest summit to tackle a deepening crisis in the Ocean driven by overfishing, climate change and pollution.
Communities in the Pacific Islands are amongst the worst hit by the impacts of plastic-choked waters, declining fish populations and loss of marine ecosystems.
In Nice this week, Pacific leaders and officials have travelled far and wide to amplify their united and collective voice to promote the protection of the Ocean so that it is healthy and productive for the survival of communities.
Their voices are represented by a contingent, which includes Leaders from the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Niue, Palau, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa and Tuvalu. Also present and engaged are Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
President Macron opened the conference with an urgent call for multilateral action to save the Ocean.
"While the Earth is warming, the ocean is boiling," said President Macron. "The climate, like biodiversity, is not a matter of opinion; it's a matter of scientifically established facts.”
He also announced that a High Seas Treaty should be ratified by the end of the summit and called for a moratorium on deep-sea mining, saying “it is madness to launch predatory economic action that will disrupt the deep seabed, disrupt biodiversity, destroy it.”
UNOC3 Co-Chair and President of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, echoed the call for world leaders and the international community gathering in Nice this week to collaborate for a healthier Ocean.
The meeting was declared opened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres who said UNOC3 is a crucial moment to advance priorities and renew the world’s collective promise to the Ocean.
“Our Ocean has not only shaped cultures, stirred imaginations and inspired wonder across the ages, it supplies the air we breathe, the food we eat, the jobs we need and the climate we count on,” he said. “But, today, the ocean needs our help. We must sustain what sustains us.”
On the issue of deep- sea mining, Guterres said: "The deep sea cannot become the wild west.”
The third UN Ocean Conference takes place at a time when non-profit Marine Conservation Institute revealed that just 2.7 per cent of the world's oceans are effectively protected from extractive activities. This is far short of the target agreed by nearly 200 countries in 2022 to protect 30 per cent of the world's oceans by 2030.
Amongst the 60 heads of state and government leaders attending UNOC3 is Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula, who also spoke during the opening.
UNOC3 will feature 10 Ocean Action Panels on topics such as blue finance, sustainable fisheries, plastic pollution and others. The meeting is expected to conclude with the Nice Ocean Action Plan – a declaration of voluntary commitments which will set the tone for future global ambition to protect the Ocean.
The third UN Ocean Conference is co-hosted by France and Costa Rica and held in Nice, France, from 9 – 13 June 2025. The overarching theme of the Conference is “Accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean”.
The Pacific Islands are represented by a strong contingent, which includes Leaders from the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Niue, Palau, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa and Tuvalu.
Also present and engaged are Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is providing support to Pacific delegations as part of the One CROP support.
SPREP will provide more Pacific news from the UNOC2025. For further information on the UN Ocean Conference 2025, please visit: https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/ocean2025