Posted on June, 02 2025

UNOC3 is a critical opportunity for the international community to transition from commitments to implementation and to make progress on delivering the urgent ocean action needed to meet the 2030 milestones under UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement. WWF’s Team Ocean PIaybook contains 20 recommendations for halting and reversing the loss of nature in the ocean in a fair and equitable way. 

Kirsten Schuijt, Director General, WWF International, said:

“We have the global agreements and solutions we need for a living ocean, now we just need the execution. With only five years to go, it’s essential that the UN Ocean Conference in Nice charts a course to deliver on the 2030 commitments that countries and businesses have signed up to. As we work together to deliver the action needed, it’s important to remember that how we go about this is just as important as reaching the goals themselves. Investing in equitable, community-led coastal conservation, alongside effective management measures rooted in science, can sustain the health and resilience of nature, people and the climate.”

The ocean provides oxygen, regulates the climate and feeds billions of people but is under increasing pressure from overfishing, pollution and climate change. These threats are amplified by decades of neglect, mismanagement and underfunding. 

Key among WWF’s recommendations is to meet the commitment to protect and conserve at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 (30X30), as set out in the Global Biodiversity Framework. The summit in Nice will be the first UN Ocean Conference since this historic agreement was signed in 2022 and is a chance to galvanize action on rapidly expanding and effectively managing networks of marine protected and conserved areas (MPCAs). 

MPCAs can contribute to food security, sequester carbon and buffer coastlines, but it is essential that they are designated and managed based on the best available science and taking into account the rights and interests of Indigenous peoples and local communities. At UNOC3, WWF urges policymakers to listen to the voices of coastal communities and ocean defenders as they work toward the 30X30 goal.

Pepe Clarke, Oceans Practice Leader, WWF International, said: 

“The ocean has an extraordinary capacity to recover. There is ample evidence that marine protected areas and science-based fisheries management help marine species and habitats to rebound. But business as usual is failing the ocean. We need bold action to scale up ocean conservation efforts, accompanied by a rapid phase out of fossil fuels, to secure a thriving ocean that sustains the health and resilience of people and nature.” 

As well as accelerating the declaration of MPCAs in national waters, leaders meeting in Nice can join others in ratifying and implementing the UN High Seas Treaty, also known as the agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction or 'BBNJ'. The adoption of the treaty, covering the two-thirds of the ocean beyond any country’s jurisdiction, in 2023 was a landmark moment, but it cannot enter into force until 60 countries have ratified it.   

On fisheries, WWF recommends an acceleration in the use of science-based management measures, including bycatch mitigation, robust data collection and strong enforcement mechanisms. Harmful fisheries subsidies are a key factor in the widespread depletion of the world’s fish stocks and at UNOC3 countries can commit to addressing this by ratifying and implementing the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement.

To help tackle climate change and mitigate its effects, the public and private sector should work to advance integrated ocean-climate solutions, to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels and to invest in decarbonizing ocean-based transport, tourism and seafood. Countries should also work to urgently conclude negotiations on a Global Plastics Treaty and agree to a pause on deep sea mining until the science is in place and the effective protection of the marine environment can be guaranteed. UNOC3 represents an opportunity to exchange information and make progress on all of these areas. 

ENDS

Notes to editors

France and Costa Rica are co-hosting the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice from 9-13 June 2025. The conference will focus on “accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean” and will support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14, life below water. It will bring together UN member states, local authorities, civil society, the private sector, the scientific community, Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Previous UN Ocean Conferences were held in 2017 in New York and in 2022 in Lisbon. The official programme for UNOC3 is available here.

WWF’s policy brief, Team Ocean Playbook, and information about WWF events at UNOC3 are available here.

WWF's Living Planet Report 2024 revealed that the average size of monitored marine species populations shrank by 56% from 1970-2020, with fish such as sharks and rays showing critical levels of decline. The report warned that the world was approaching dangerous tipping points - the mass die-off of coral reefs would collapse fisheries and reduce coastal protection for hundreds of millions of people living on the coasts.

Contact: news@wwfint.org