As the UN Ocean Conference opens in France, a push to turn promises into
protection
[June 09, 2025]
By ANNIKA HAMMERSCHLAG
NICE, France (AP) — The third U.N. Ocean Conference opened Monday as
pressure mounts for nations to turn decades of promises into real
protection for the sea.
French President Emmanuel Macron, delivering the keynote address in the
host city of Nice, urged countries to move “from words to deeds” in
safeguarding the oceans. He warned that “the fight for the ocean is at
the heart of the years-long battles we’ve been waging — for
biodiversity, for climate, for our environment and for our health.”
The conference comes as just 2.7% of the ocean is effectively protected
from destructive extractive activities, according to the nonprofit
Marine Conservation Institute. That's far below the target agreed under
the “30x30” pledge to conserve 30% of land and sea by 2030.
Atop this year’s agenda is ratification of the High Seas Treaty. Adopted
in 2023, the treaty would for the first time allow nations to establish
marine protected areas in international waters, which cover nearly
two-thirds of the ocean and are largely ungoverned.
“It’s the Wild West out there with countries just fishing anywhere
without any sort of regulation, and that needs to change,” said Mauro
Randone, regional projects manager at the World Wildlife Fund’s
Mediterranean Marine Initiative. “The high seas belong to everyone and
no one practically at the same time, and countries are finally
committing to establish some rules.”
The ocean is critical in stabilizing Earth’s climate and sustaining
life. It generates 50% of the oxygen we breathe, absorbs around 30% of
carbon dioxide emissions and captures more than 90% of the excess heat
caused by those emissions. Without a healthy ocean, experts warn,
climate goals will remain out of reach.
The treaty will only come into force once 60 countries ratify it. As of
Monday, just 32 countries had. Advocates hope UNOC can build enough
momentum to cross the threshold, which would allow for the first
official Oceans Conference of Parties.
“Two-thirds of the ocean is areas beyond national jurisdiction — that’s
half our planet,” said Minna Epps, director of global ocean policy the
International Union for Conservation of Nature. “We cannot possibly
protect 30% of the ocean if it doesn’t include the high seas.”
South Korea, France and the European Union have championed the treaty,
but most large ocean nations have yet to ratify it, including the rest
of the G20. Thousands of attendees are expected in Nice — from delegates
and heads of state to scientists and industry leaders. The United States
has yet to confirm a formal delegation.
Moving from protections on paper to something real
Beyond new commitments, the conference highlights the growing gap
between marine protection declarations and real-world conservation.
France, the conference co-host, claims to have surpassed the 30% target
for marine protection. But environmental groups say only 3% of French
waters are fully protected from harmful activities like bottom trawling
and industrial fishing.
In 2024 alone, more than 100 bottom-trawling vessels were recorded
spending over 17,000 hours fishing within France’s six marine nature
parks, according to ocean advocacy group Oceana.
“The government declares these as protected areas, but this is a lie,”
said Enric Sala, founder of National Geographic Pristine Seas marine
reserve project. “Most of it is political box-ticking. It’s all paper
parks.”
That criticism is echoed across the continent. A new World Wildlife Fund
report found that although more than 11% of Europe’s marine area is
designated for protection, just 2% of EU waters have management plans in
place.
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Fish swim in the protected area of France's Port-Cros National Park
ahead of the U.N. Ocean Conference, Saturday, June 7, 2025, (AP
Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
Fabien Boileau, director of marine protected areas at France’s
Office for Biodiversity, acknowledged the presence of bottom
trawling in French protected areas, but said it was part of a phased
strategy.
“In France, we made the choice to designate large marine protected
areas with relatively low levels of regulation at first, betting
that stronger protections would be developed over time through local
governance,” he said. “Today, we’re gradually increasing the number
of zones with stricter protections within those areas.”
France's Port-Cros: A model for conservation
While many marine protected areas struggle with enforcement, others
show what real protection can achieve. Off the southern coast of
France, Port-Cros National Park is one of the oldest marine reserves
in the Mediterranean. There, strict anchoring bans have allowed vast
seagrass meadows to grow undisturbed. Massive groupers patrol rocky
outcrops, brightly colored nudibranchs munch on algae, and schools
of large corbs glide through the shallows, undisturbed by fishing
lines.
“Thanks to the protections that have been in place since 1963, we
can observe species that are much larger than elsewhere in the
Mediterranean and at a much higher density than in other areas,"
said Hubert Flavigny, manager of Mio Palmo dive center in Hyeres,
France.
Still, such examples remain exceptions.
Advocates say industrial fishing lobbies continue to resist stricter
protections, despite evidence that well-managed reserves boost
long-term fisheries through the “spillover effect,” whereby marine
life flourishes in nearby waters.
“Protection is not the problem — overfishing is the problem,” said
Sala. “The worst enemy of the fishing industry is themselves.”
Frustrated by government inaction, environmental groups have taken
enforcement into their own hands. In May, Greenpeace dropped 15
limestone boulders into France’s Golfe du Lion, aiming to physically
block bottom trawling in a marine area that has long been designated
for protection. The protected zone was established in 2008 to
preserve deep-sea ecosystems, yet 12 trawlers continue to operate
there, despite scientific warnings of ecological collapse, according
to activist group MedReAct.
The Golfe is now one of the most overfished areas in the
Mediterranean.
What will UNOC deliver?
The conference will feature 10 panels on topics such as blue
finance, sustainable fisheries and plastic pollution. Deep sea
mining is expected to feature in broader discussions, while small
island states are likely to use the platform to advocate for
increased climate adaptation funding.
The outcome of these discussions will form the basis of the Nice
Ocean Action Plan — a declaration of voluntary commitments to be
adopted by consensus and presented at the United Nations in New York
this July.
"There cannot be a healthy planet without a healthy ocean," said
Peter Thomson, U.N. special envoy for the ocean. “It’s urgent
business for us all.”
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