Action for the Ocean in International Geneva

Why the Ocean Matters

The ocean is our planet’s largest ecosystem. It is our life source, supporting humanity’s sustenance and that of every other organism on earth. It stabilizes climate, stores carbon, nurtures unimaginable biodiversity, and directly supports human well-being through food and energy resources, as well as by providing cultural and recreational services. Not to mention, the ocean is key to our economy with an estimated 40 million people being employed by ocean-based industries by 2030.

Even though all its benefits, the ocean is now in need of support. Despite improved management and conservation actions, the UN Second World Ocean Assessment, launched in April 2021, found that pressures from many human activities continue to degrade the ocean and destroy essential habitats. With 90% of big fish populations depleted, and 50% of coral reefs destroyed, we are taking more from the ocean than can be replenished.

As the world population will reach an estimated 9 billion people by 2050, impacts on the ocean associated with human activities will increase. Therefore, now more than ever, action to protect and preserve the ocean and all it sustains is needed.

Global Action for the Ocean

SDG 14 – Life below Water

As part of the 2030 Agenda, governments have set the ambition protect the ocean’s resources by eliminating pollution and overfishing to responsibly manage and protect all marine life around the world under SDG 14 – Life below water. However, current efforts to protect key marine environments and small-scale fishers and invest in ocean science are are still insufficient to achieve SDG 14. Thus, strengthening global action is essential to protect the ocean, safeguard people’s livelihoods and health, and allow a sustainable future for generations to come.

UN Ocean Conference 2025

The 2025 UN Ocean Conference was held from 9 to 13 June 2025 in Nice, France, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica. The Conference involved all relevant stakeholders, bringing together Governments, the United Nations system, intergovernmental organizations, international financial institutions, other interested international bodies, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, academic institutions, the scientific community, the private sector, philanthropic organizations, Indigenous Peoples and local communities and other actors to assess challenges and opportunities relating to, as well as actions taken towards, the implementation of Goal 14.

Nice Ocean Action Plan

The overarching theme of the Conference is “Accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean”. The Conference, comprising an opening segment, ten plenary sessions, ten Ocean Action Panels and a closing segment, aims to support further and urgent action to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development and identify further ways and means to support the implementation of SDG 14. It will build on existing instruments to form successful partnerships towards the swift conclusion and effective implementation of ongoing processes that contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean. The Conference shall adopt , by consensus a brief, concise, action-oriented and intergovernmentally agreed declaration, which along with a list of voluntary commitments, will be referred to as “Nice Ocean Action Plan”.

UN Ocean Conference 2022

The Ocean Conference, co-hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Portugal, came at a critical time as the world is strengthening its efforts to mobilize, create, and drive solutions to realize the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. As one of the first milestones of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ newly launched Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals, the Conference propelled much-needed science-based innovative solutions aimed at starting a new chapter of global ocean action.

From 27 June to 1 July, around 6,500 representatives, including 24 Heads of State and Government and 2,000 among intergovernmental organizations and representatives of civil society organizations met in Lisbon. The Conference concluded with the adoption of the political declaration titled “Our Ocean, Our Future, Our Responsibility”.

Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction | BBNJ Agreement

The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, also known as the “BBNJ Agreement”, is the first comprehensive, cross-sectoral ocean treaty in decades. It was adopted on 19 June 2023, following nearly twenty years of negotiations. Its adoption marked a historic achievement in efforts to ensure the health and resilience of ocean ecosystems, and to level the playing field in the capacity to participate in and benefit from activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Having reached the milestone of 60 ratifications on 19 September 2025,  the Agreement will enter into force on 17 January 2026, providing a global framework to advance international biodiversity goals, including the commitment to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The BBNJ Agreement is the third implementing agreement to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, or the Convention), setting out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out. The BBNJ Agreement foresees that it must be interpreted and applied in the context of and in a manner consistent with the Convention. The Agreement also provides that it does not prejudice the rights, jurisdiction and duties of States under the Convention, including in respect of the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nautical miles. All States and regional economic integration organizations may become parties to the BBNJ Agreement, whether they are parties to the Convention or not. The Agreement also provides that the legal status of non-parties to the Convention is not affected by the Agreement.

The Agreement addresses a package of issues under the overall objective of ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction for the present and in the long term, through effective implementation of the relevant provisions of UNCLOS and further international cooperation and coordination. It sets out specific measures in respect of these issues, modalities to implement and monitor those measures, as well as institutional arrangements to support its implementation. → Learn more in the dedicated Factsheet 1: Overview of the BBNJ Agreement).

The Agreement covers four main issues:

• Marine genetic resources, including the fair and equitable sharing of benefits (Factsheet 2);
• Measures such as area-based management tools, including marine protected areas (Factsheet 3);
• Environmental impact assessments (Factsheet 4); and
• Capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology (Factsheet 5).

It also addresses so-called “cross-cutting issues (Factsheet 6)”, which are topics that are transversal for the implementation of the Agreement and relevant to the four main issues.

BBNJ High Ambition Coalition (HAC)

The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction High Ambition Coalition (BBNJ HAC) brings together more than 40 countries committed to swift entry into force and ambitious implementation of the historic BBNJ Treaty, providing vision, leadership, and a strong, influential international voice. It is co-chaired by Palau, Seychelles and the European Union, and supported by a Secretariat hosted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and funded by the EU. The current Executive Director of the Secretariat is Minna Epps, Global Ocean Policy Director at IUCN.

The mission of the BBNJ HAC is to support and unite countries to enable:

• Rapid ratification of the BBNJ Treaty
• Ambitious implementation of the agreement’s provisions
• Science-based protection of high seas biodiversity
• Equitable sharing of marine genetic resources

Countries can join the High Ambition Coalition by endorsing the declaration and committing to ambitious implementation of the BBNJ Treaty.

UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development

The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) is an opportunity for nations to work together to generation the global ocean science needed to support the sustainable development of our shared ocean. It creates a new foundation across the science-policy interface to strengthen the management of our oceans and coasts for the benefit of humanity, and strengthen the international cooperation needed to develop the scientific research and innovative technologies that can connect ocean science with the needs of society.

World Oceans Day

World Oceans Day, celebrated each year on 8 June, reminds every one of the major role the ocean has in everyday life. The purpose of the Day is to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean, and mobilize and unite the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the ocean.

Addressing Climate Change

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are one of the biggest pressures on the ocean. According to the IPCC, the great majority of the world’s coral reef will be lost once global temperatures increase beyond 2˚C above pre-industrial levels. The ocean plays a fundamental planetary role in mitigating the effects of climate change through its absorption of heat and carbon. The resulting sea-level rise, warming surface temperature and acidification have tremendous impacts on ecosystems, as well as human lives and livelihoods.

Getting to a global net zero economy as soon as possible is absolutely fundamental to ending the cycle of decline in which the ocean’s wellbeing is currently caught.

Peter Thomson, UN Special Envoy on the Ocean, 17 June 2021

Fostering Sustainable Blue Economy

The ocean supports the livelihoods of more than 3 billion people. The value of the ocean economy sectors, such as fisheries, maritime transport, coastal tourism, off-shore energy and marine bio prospecting, has been estimated at about 3 trillion USD annually. Worryingly, the current mode of operating of ocean economic activities is no longer sustainable. The natural assets that the blue economy depends on are fast eroding under the pressure of human activities.

The heart of SDG 14 is the sustainable blue economy. Developing the sustainable blue economy will mitigate climate change, create massive employment in blue-green industries, and provide us with the medicine and healthy nutrition that we need for a secure future.

Peter Thomson, UN Special Envoy on the Ocean, 17 June 2021

Therefore, we need to diversify towards economic activities that will have a lower impact on ecosystems, while sustaining livelihoods and stimulating job creation. It’s possible to combine production from the ocean while protecting its economic, social and environmental value for the future. The UN Decade of Ocean Science will be an opportunity to maximize the benefits of effective science-based management of our ocean space and resources.

Stopping Plastic Pollution

Plastic pollution is found everywhere from the Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench, and the deepest part of the ocean.  Of the approximately 275 million metric tons of plastic waste produced annually, up to 12 million tons leak into the ocean, wreaking havoc on livelihoods and ecosystems . The result is an estimated $13 billion in annual environmental damage to marine ecosystems.

In 2017, the UN Environment Assembly established the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Expert Group (AHEG) on Marine Litter and Microplastics. The expert group put forward a series of possible policy responses to reduce plastic pollution in marine environments ahead of UNEA-5.1 in February 2021. In September 2021, the first ever Ministerial Conference on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution was held in Geneva in order to build momentum and political will to advance a coherent global strategy on the topic. In March 2022, the fifth UN Environment Assembly adopted a historic resolution to end plastic pollution requesting the establishment of an international negotiating committee which is tasked with developing a legally binding instrument on the matter by the end of 2024.

Ending Overfishing

More than 820 million people depend on fisheries and aquaculture for food, nutrition, and income. But the ability of the world’s fisheries to provide jobs and nutrition is being threatened by an unprecedented crisis of overfishing and improper resource management.  The Second World Ocean Assessment revealed that, while fisheries management is improving in many regions, a third of global stocks are still overfished.

Efforts to reverse the trend are thus essential to secure livelihoods and food security and protect biodiversity. Scientific findings indicate that 98% of currently overfished stocks could recover by the middle of this century if managed properly. At the global level, Members to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have achieved a landmark agreement in June 2022 after more than 20 years of negotiations to achieve SDG 14.6.

Developing Science and Data

Protecting and sustainably managing the ocean requires a sound scientific understanding of the ocean, its ecosystems, and its connections with all spheres of human activity. Scientific understanding of the ocean’s responses to pressures and management action is fundamental for sustainable development. Today, the growing impacts of climate change are making ocean observations, research and services more critical than ever before.

The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) aims to support efforts to reverse the cycle of decline in ocean health and gather ocean stakeholders worldwide behind a common framework that will ensure ocean science can fully support countries in creating improved conditions for sustainable development of the ocean. In Geneva, the World Meteorological Organization and the Group on Earth Observations are two key actors engaged in the development of reliable data and sound science on the ocean.

Human Rights Depend on a Healthy Ocean

The ocean is not only a vast, renewable resource, it is also essential to human well-being, and its declining health directly threatens the health and well-being of people globally. Amidst numerous threats to ocean ecosystems and to global marine diversity, the degradation of ocean ecosystem through biodiversity loss, marine and coastal pollution, overfishing, ocean heating, acidification and climate change directly impacts human rights: their right to self-determination through overexploitation of marine resources, their right to food and health through marine pollutants that harm ecosystems and accumulate in species, and climate change related impacts such as ocean warming, acidification and extreme weather threaten the security, infrastructure and livelihoods of coastal communities.

A healthy ocean is fundamental not only to robust biodiversity and thriving ecosystems but also to the full enjoyment of human rights, including the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. A human-rights based approach that centers human rights and social equity as the main objectives must be embedded in marine conservation and ocean governance.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment presented a report to the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council on “The ocean and human rights”  (A/HRC/58/59). The report constitutes a contribution to understanding the ocean as a single biome and its significance within the framework of human rights, particularly in relation to marginalized people, communities and groups. Also addressed is the importance of a holistic, comprehensive, integrated, gender-responsive and human rights- and ecosystem-based approach to the ocean, with the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment at the centre. The report underscored the need to advance adaptive, inclusive and evidence-based management measures to reduce the vulnerability of the ocean to harms from the triple planetary crisis and their cumulative impact on human rights.

Role of Geneva

Various Geneva-based organizations or secretariats – listed below in alphabetical order – work actively to protect and restore the oceans and promote a sustainable blue economy. UN system’s engagement with oceans-related issues also goes beyond Geneva, with organizations around the world involved, such as the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Bertarelli Foundation

Working deeply in the fields of marine conservation and life science research, the Bertarelli Foundation is working with governmental bodies, NGOs and local communities to create and enforce Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) around the world. To date, the Foundation has supported the protection of more than 2,000,000 km2 of ocean in Pacific and Indian Oceans and in the Caribbean Sea.

Business for Nature

Business for Nature is a global coalition of over 100 influential partner organizations. These are primarily global, national and sector business associations, alongside leading conservation organizations that have a track record of working with business. As a thriving ocean underpins resilient and successful economies, Business for Nature advocase and supports efforts of businesses to overcome the strain of escalating marine pollution, overfishing, habitat loss and the impacts of climate change to overcome the risks to supply chains, workforce stability, regulatory environments and investor confidence.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

CITES is a multilateral agreement to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants – including listed marine species – does not threaten their survival.

Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention)

The mission of the Convention on Wetlands is “the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world,” including marine and coastal wetlands.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Liaison Office in Geneva

The FAO Geneva Office works with the Fisheries Division to strengthen global governance and the managerial and technical capacities of members and to lead consensus-building towards improved conservation and utilization of aquatic resources.

Global Fund for Coral Reefs

The GFCR Coalition is a public-private partnership driven by more than 60 member states, UN agencies, financial institutions, philanthropies, impact investors, and conservation organisations. As an implementation vehicle for the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14), Life Below Water, the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) is enhancing the resilience of coastal reef ecosystems, communities, and economies by unlocking new public and private resources that accelerate sustainable businesses and financial solutions. By deploying catalytic grants and investments, the GFCR’s resilience-focused portfolio comprises market-based solutions spanning more than 20 developing states, including wastewater treatment and recycling, coral reef insurance, sustainable aquaculture and agriculture, ecotourism, and initiatives enabling sustainable finance for marine protected areas (MPAs).

Global Resource Information Database – Geneva (UNEP/GRID-Geneva)

GRID-Geneva is a partnership between UNEP, the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and UNIGE. GRID-Geneva main’s role is to transform data into information and knowledge to support the decision making process related to environmental issues. GRID-Geneva is actively contributing to protect and restore the oceans and promote a sustainable blue economy, through various projects under the umbrella of the World Environment Situation Room, which is the UNEP data, information, and knowledge platform.

Group on Earth Observations (GEO)

GEO is a partnership of more than 100 national governments and in excess of 100 Participating Organizations that envisions a future where decisions and actions for the benefit of humankind are informed by coordinated, comprehensive and sustained Earth observations. GEO is contribute to the Ocean Decade by providing data and observations on the status of the oceans, for instance through the GEO Blue Planet Initiative.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

The IPCC is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. Its reports provide scientific knowledge on the role of oceans in regulating climate change and the impacts of global warming on the oceans. The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, published in 2019, provides an extensive review of the state of science in the field of climate science in marine environments.

International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)

The IISD is an independent think tank working to create a world where people and the planet thrive. The Institute supports the current WTO negotiations to end harmful fisheries subsidies, recognizing the need to restore the sustainability of fish stocks while supporting livelihoods and food security.

International Labour Organization (ILO)

The International Labour Organisation (ILO)  is dedicated to the promotion of social justice and internationally recognised human and labour rights. From The Maritime Labour Convention (2006), which protects the right of the world’s 1.5 million seafarers to decent conditions of work in almost every aspect of their working and living conditions;  to the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188),  ensuring decent work in fishing; and to dedicated workstreams on ports and inland waterway sectors, the ILO protects the rights of workers employed in ocean-related activities.

International Organization on Migration (IOM)

The impacts of climate change on the ocean and marine ecosystems profoundly affect human livelihoods and mobility. IOM recognizes the need to respond to the challenges arising from the interaction between ocean and marine ecosystem change and human migration and displacement, especially in the face of rising sea levels and the degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems. They elevate migration issues to conversations and dialogues on the ocean including issues on planned relocations — recognized as a tool for disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) — can be a measure to reduce the exposure of vulnerable population to the impacts of environmental change in areas exposed to sea level rise and ocean acidification.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

IUCN is the world’s largest conservation network with the mission to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature. IUCN works to ensure that coastal, marine and polar ecosystems are restored and maintained, and that any use of their resources is sustainable and equitable. It conducts research that guides the conservation of these ecosystems and the many benefits they provide to people, and helps integrate these benefits into international law, and into economic and climate change policies.

Oceana

Oceana is an international organization focused on oceans, dedicated to achieving measurable change by conducting specific, science-based policy campaigns with fixed deadlines and articulated goals. Since its founding, Oceana has won over 200 victories and protected more than one million square miles of ocean.

Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR)

PEDRR is the clearinghouse for knowledge, training, advocacy and practice on Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR). PEDRR is reinforcing knowledge to manage ecosystems,including coastal systems, in a way to reduce physical exposure to many hazards and increasing socio-economic resilience of people and communities.

Pew Charitable Trusts

Pew’s ocean work includes efforts to create large marine reserves; end illegal fishing; protect key species such as penguins, sharks, tuna and forage fish; and establish policies that protect, maintain, and restore the health of marine ecosystems.

The SeaCleaners

The SeaCleaners fights for a pollution-free ocean, by integrating economic, social, human, educational and scientific perspectives in a dynamic and solidarity-based project. The SeaCleaners is active on several fronts: raising awareness and promoting prevention, sharing scientific knowledge, accelerating the transition to a circular economy, and developing innovative solutions for waste collection and repurposing on land and at sea.

Unearthodox

Unearthodox, launched in March 2023 out of the legacy of the Luc Hoffmann Institute,  is an independent foundation fostering the commitment to innovate for diverse, equitable societies that value nature and actively regenerate all life on Earth.

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)

Growing ocean-related hazards from sea-level rise to ocean acidification have long-term, cascading impacts and increase risks from disasters. UNDRR, as the lead agency within the United Nations system for the coordination of disaster risk reduction,
works globally towards the prevention of new disaster risks and the reduction of existing risk, and promotes the strengthening of resilience through multi-hazard disaster risk management.

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

The UN Fisheries Language for Universal Exchange (UN/FLUX) developed under UNECE’s UN/CEFACT enables the automatic exchange of fisheries data. This is crucial in the fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing practices. UN/FLUX is now implemented in EU member states, with preparations underway to control fish stocks in the North-East Atlantic.

UN Information Portal on Multilateral Environmental Agreements (InforMEA)

InforMEA provides easy access to information on Multilateral Environment Agreements. The InforMEA portal provides treaty texts and provisions of decisions and resolutions adopted by the Governing Bodies of MEAs. It also provides Party information, including contacts, national reports and national plans submitted under MEAs. The portal also provides terms and concepts as defined in the context of MEAs and free online courses introducing MEAs.

United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the leading UN entity on human rights and represent the world’s commitment to the promotion and protection of the full range of human rights and freedoms set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. OHCHR is home for secretariats of international human rights treaty bodies and the UN Human Rights Council. As human well-being, livelihoods and survival are highly dependent on a healthy ocean, OHCHR promotes a human rights approach to address the negative effects of ocean degradation, which disproportionately affect vulnerable communities such as Indigenous Peoples, coastal communities, small scale fishers, ship workers and persons with disabilities.

UN Special Rapporteur on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment exists to examine the human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment and to promote best practices of the use of human rights in environmental policymaking. The current mandate holder, Astrid Puentes Riaño conducted a report to the Human Rights Council “The ocean and human rights “(A/HRC/58/59), which considers the relationship between the ocean and human rights and why ocean issues are human rights issues.  

United Nations Trade & Development (UNCTAD)

UNCTAD is supporting developing countries to identify the opportunities and challenges that the oceans economy can bring. It also supports national trade and other competent authorities to design and create an enabling policy and regulatory environment that promotes the development and emergence of a sustainable blue economy.

University of Geneva (UNIGE)

UNIGE  is Switzerland’s second largest university. The Department F.-A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences investigates physical processes at a wide variety of study sites, including coastal oceans, rivers, frozen lakes, and even the arctic. The Aquatic Physics group utilizes these state-of-the-art field measurements, combined with system analytics and modeling, to explore important physical processes and their impacts.

World Conservation Society (WCS)

WCS uses science to discover and understand the natural world. This knowledge helps us engage and inspire decision-makers, communities, and millions of supporters to take action with us to protect the wildlife and wild places we all care about. WCS’s Marine Program envisions a world where marine wildlife thrives in healthy seas, valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on Earth. It focuses on saving wildlife and wild places through a combination of credible science, practical management, applicable policy and by engaging and inspiring people to value nature.

World Economic Forum (WEF)

The WEF is an international organization for public-private cooperation shaping shape global, regional and industry agendas. Its work on oceans aims to shape a new ocean economy, addressing the interlinkages between oceans, climate change, biodiversity, technologies, governance and more. The WEF convenes the Friends of Ocean Action – a coalition of over 65 ocean leaders who are fast-tracking solutions to the most pressing challenges facing the ocean. It also hosts the Global Plastic Action Partnership which supports the transition to a circular plastics economy.

World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)

As a specialized agency of the United Nations, WMO is dedicated to international cooperation and coordination on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces, and the resulting distribution of water resources.

World Trade Organisation (WTO)

The WTO is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. Since 2001, WTO members are negotiations rules to eliminate subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and to prohibit subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, with special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries.

World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF)

WWF is one of the  leading organization in wildlife conservation and endangered species, including in marine environmentd.  WWF works to help local communities conserve the natural resources they depend upon; transform markets and policies toward sustainability; and protect and restore species and their habitats.

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