Why the 2025 UN Ocean Conference matters!

As the world prepares for the third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, the stakes have never been higher. The ocean is in crisis – ecologically, economically and ethically. Decades of commodification have turned this important ecosystem into a vast, unregulated marketplace, enriching a few while degrading a resource vital to all. If governments are serious about delivering on their commitments under the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), UNOC3 must be a decisive turning point to reclaim and restore the ocean as a blue commons: a shared natural and cultural heritage to be governed with justice, equity, and sustainability at its core.

Photo: Fishermen © ATM

In his powerful new documentary Ocean, David Attenborough reminds us that “the fate of humanity is inseparable from the fate of the sea”. It’s a timely message because next week, global leaders, scientists, Indigenous Peoples, youth activists, and civil society will gather in Nice, France, for the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3). 

Our ocean is in crisis. Decades of overfishing, pollution, seabed destruction, and accelerating climate change have pushed marine ecosystems to the brink. And yet, the ocean remains our lifeline: it feeds billions, absorbs a quarter of global CO₂ emissions, regulates the climate, and sustains rich biodiversity along with the livelihoods of coastal communities. Protecting one of Earth’s most vital systems is not optional, it is existential.

The ocean as a commons

Change needed on management of ‘working waters’

Governments around the world have signed up to the goal of protecting at least 30% of the ocean by 2030. But what about the other 70%? While efforts to expand marine protected areas (MPAs) are much welcome and needed, they are not enough. Most of the ocean will remain open to use for fishing, shipping etc. Without transformative change in how we manage these “working waters”, the 30×30 ambition risks becoming a paper victory.

UNOC3 presents a critical opportunity to shift the narrative. Governments must not only designate more protected areas – they must radically improve governance of the ocean that remains open. This means phasing out harmful subsidies, ending overfishing and destructive fishing practices, stopping land-based marine pollution, empowering Indigenous Peoples and small-scale fishers as key stewards of marine ecosystems, and halting new threats like (deep) seabed mining that treat the ocean as an extractive frontier rather than a living system.

Equity central to ocean protection

Equity should be central to ocean protection: justice for ocean communities and justice for the ocean itself are inseparable. Coastal communities are being edged out by industrial fishing fleets, resort and aquaculture developers, and offshore extraction.

Defending the blue commons means reimagining ocean governance – from exclusive rights to inclusive stewardship. As IUCN NL we work with civil society organisations across the globe to strengthen the role of local communities, fisherfolk, women, and Indigenous Peoples in protecting and restoring coastal and marine ecosystems and advocating for fair, transparent, and science-based marine governance.

UNOC3 must rise to this challenge. It should deliver not just new targets or pledges, but a renewed vision of the ocean as a shared life-support system that belongs to everyone.  As Attenborough shows, hope remains. Marine ecosystems can bounce back – if we give them the chance.