Posted on June, 09 2025

9 June 2025, Nice: As delegates gather for the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in the south of France, WWF is calling for unprecedented investment and action to sustain the health and resilience of the ocean and people.

Delivering a statement during the first Ocean Action Panel of the summit, Kirsten Schuijt, Director General, WWF International said: 

“We have said multiple times that we must act urgently, at scale, to repair the damage caused by climate change, overfishing and pollution. Now it’s time for straight talk: Too many well-intentioned commitments are going unfulfilled. It’s time to break the bottlenecks, strengthen and restore resolve, and achieve what’s been promised.

“This means it is time to make unprecedented investments in marine and coastal conservation to tackle the linked threats of biodiversity loss and climate change. Governments need to develop ambitious national plans to uphold their commitments to conserve 30% of marine areas by 2030, to ratify and implement the High Seas Treaty, to finalize a Global Plastics Treaty and to agree to a pause on deep sea mining until the science is in place to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment. These are essential steps to sustain the health and resilience of nature, communities and the climate, while safeguarding the marine resources that underpin the ocean economy valued at US$2.5 trillion a year. 

“The ocean’s bounty can bring lasting benefits for generations—but only if it is managed sustainably and in true partnership with communities. That’s why WWF champions ocean solutions that are inclusive, equitable, and rooted in human rights. We advocate for fair, timely access to finance, technology, and capacity building to scale up locally led efforts for conservation, restoration, adaptation, mitigation, and resilience.

“We have the science, strategies, and solutions—now it’s time to accelerate action. WWF invites everyone here today to work in partnership to secure a thriving ocean that sustains the health and resilience of both people and nature.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

A recording of the first Ocean Action Panel is available here. The statement by the Director General of WWF International is at 03:37:25.

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 Playbook contains 20 recommendations for halting and reversing the loss of nature in the ocean in a fair and equitable way. UNOC3 represents a chance to make progress on these recommendations, including: 

• Implementation of the ocean-related elements of the Global Biodiversity Framework, including to protect, conserve and equitably govern at least 30% of the ocean. 
• Timely ratification and effective implementation of the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement, and progress towards a more comprehensive fisheries subsidies agreement.
• Timely ratification and effective implementation of the UN High Seas Treaty, with a particular focus on progress towards networks of high seas MPAs. 
• Securing a robust UN Plastics Treaty consistent with our key policy priorities. 
• Implementation of ocean-climate solutions through the UNFCCC and national climate plans.
• Adoption of a moratorium on deep seabed mining at the International Seabed Authority. 

More information about WWF’s recommendations and events at UNOC3 is available here.

France and Costa Rica are co-hosting the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice from 9-13 June 2025. The conference is focusing 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 brings 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.

Contact: news@wwfint.org