Ocean Alert: Nice Declaration to Save Flora, Fauna and Clean Water

The UN Conference UNOC3 in Nice adopted a declaration highlighting the critical importance of oceans for life on our planet and their essential role in mitigating climate change. After a week of deliberations and discussions, the UN Oceans Conference unanimously adopted a political declaration entitled “Our Ocean, Our Future: United for Urgent Action”. Participants in numerous panels stressed that business must not lead to the degradation of the oceans, because it is the fastest route to the degradation of the entire planet.

“Oceans are fundamental to life on our planet and to our future, and we remain deeply concerned about the global emergency they face,” stated the conference’s outcome document. It said that action to date has not progressed at the speed or scale required to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14 and implement the 2030 Agenda.

The declaration was published as the “Nice Ocean Action Plan”. The conference participants expressed in the declaration “deep concern that the ability of the ocean and its ecosystems to act as climate regulators and support adaptation has been undermined.

UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 is “Life Below Water” and concerns the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources. This means reducing pollution, including from land, combating ocean acidification, preventing overfishing and protecting marine and coastal ecosystems.

The Nice Declaration
In a statement following the adoption of the “Nice Declaration,” it was reported that after the adoption of the final document, the representative of the Russian Federation distanced herself from paragraph 26, which emphasizes the need for the rapid entry into force of the “Agreement on the Biological Diversity of Marine Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction.”

The delegate of Panama said that although much progress had been made this week, the participants of UNOC3 should vote for the full implementation of the Agreement. The delegate of Venezuela said that her government is not a party to the Agreement on the Biological Diversity of Marine Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, but that Caracas nevertheless feels obliged to comply with the final document. The Chilean delegation and the South Korean representatives made statements and a proposal to host the next UN Ocean Conference in 2028.

Speaking at the end, Special Advisor to the Presidents of the Conference on Oceans and Legal Affairs Elinor Hammarskjöld said that the Conference’s commitment to more inclusive ocean governance ensures that every voice is heard. “Together we are shaping a future where cooperation leads to real, lasting change,” said Hammarskjöld. The adoption of the Nice Declaration is considered to be a historic achievement for the UN and a key step in reversing the damage done to the climate by humans.

Peter Thomson, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Oceans, stressed that the signs of concern for the oceans are “all around us” and called for an end to debating climate change deniers.

Source: GreenMATCH

The Special Presidential Envoy for Oceans of France, Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, said that for thousands of years the ocean has shaped “the global world as we know it,” and for centuries humans have used the oceans to explore other worlds. For centuries, the oceans have allowed humans to trade goods. “How did we get to the point where we are serving the oceans so badly,” he asked, adding that fully achieving SDG 14 “is no easy feat.”

The 2025 UN Conference in Support of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development was convened to drive engagement among nations, world leaders, environmental agencies and groups.

Man is destroying the ocean

The latest data on ocean degradation was collected and recently published on GreenMATCH.co.uk by Caoimhe Donnelly, Chief Sustainability Officer of CIÉ Group. She says that ocean pollution has become a serious problem in recent years and is still growing. Through human activities such as overconsumption, use of plastic packaging, nets and equipment on ships and yachts, poor recycling and waste management practices, we have slowly begun to destroy the oceans.”

Caoimhe Donnelly warns: “Failure to protect our oceans will increase climate change, which will lead to catastrophic consequences for human life,” and lists:

• There are currently between 75 and 199 million tonnes of plastic in the ocean.

• 92% of microplastics have been found in 60% of the fish we eat each year and are linked to health risks such as cancer, infertility and damage to the nervous system.

• Asia accounts for 81% of ocean plastic pollution due to poor waste management, single-use plastics and inadequate recycling facilities.

• Over 3 billion people depend on the ocean for their livelihoods, but pollution has led to declining fish stocks and job losses in affected communities.

The authors of the Nice Declaration repeatedly emphasize the importance of the links between the ocean, climate and biodiversity. The Declaration calls for increased global action to minimize the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification on biological life. It emphasizes the importance of implementing UN agreements and frameworks, recognizing that this will significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change and help ensure the health, sustainable use and resilience of the ocean.

Source: GreenMATCH

The communiqué emphasizes the need to adapt to the “unavoidable impacts” of climate change. The declaration reaffirms the importance of full and effective implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its protocols, as well as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

High praise is expressed for small island developing states, whose activities are directed towards finding solutions to the problem of sea level rise. The declaration expresses concern about the high and rapidly increasing levels of plastic pollution and its negative impact on the environment.

The countries adopting the declaration declared their joint commitment to accelerate action to prevent and significantly reduce and control all types of marine pollution and emphasized the need to increase scientific knowledge of deep-sea ecosystems.

The aim is to educate and inform the public about the importance of a healthy ocean and resilient marine ecosystems for the functioning of present and future generations. The need to monitor changes in the oceans, map coastal and marine ecosystems and the ocean floor was emphasized. It is about identifying the effects, mainly of negative political decisions on changes in the seas and coasts. Attention is drawn to the need to plan the development of maritime industries, integrated coastal zone management and planning the protection of sea and ocean resources.

Oceans make up two thirds of our planet

It is important to constantly remind ourselves that oceans make up two thirds of our planet. They not only support ocean fauna and flora, but also regulate the climate. In times of globalization, they are the main area on which economic growth on all continents depends.

 

Source: GreenMATCH

–  However, human activity has contributed to ocean pollution, endangering ecosystems, wildlife, human life and the economy. By understanding the facts and statistics about ocean pollution, we can help reduce our impact on the oceans and take key steps to reduce the global crisis – emphasizes Elinor Hammarskjöld and lists the role of the oceans in the functioning of life on Earth. And the most important of them is that the oceans are responsible for absorbing over 90% of the world’s heat and over 3 billion people depend on the oceans for their livelihoods, including food and energy, and the blue economy provides millions of jobs every year..

The oceans are full of plastic. It is estimated that there are between 75 and 199 million tons of plastic in our oceans. Every year, between 8 and 10 million tons of plastic ends up in the oceans, which is about 0.5% of the world’s plastic. According to an analysis by the University of Manchester, there are 1.9 million pieces of plastic per m2 in our oceans. Most ocean plastic comes from land-based sources (70 to 80%), while an additional 20 to 30% comes from marine sources, such as fishing vessels and others, Hammarskjöld warns.

UNESCO says that by 2050, plastic will outweigh all fish in the sea. It is estimated that 92% of ocean plastic is microplastic (plastic smaller than 5 mm). The most common plastics in the ocean include cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic bottles and caps, straws, cups, plates and single-use plastic bags. 60% of fish contain microplastics, and 1 in 3 fish caught for consumption contains plastic.

Source: GreenMATCH

The concentration of people on the shores of oceans and seas means that “runoff from sewage treatment plants, agriculture and the use of fossil fuels are polluting our oceans with nutrients. Every summer, we see on the beaches that the excess nutrients lower the oxygen level in the water, causing blooms and mass die-offs of fauna and flora.

As a result of nutrient pollution, dead zones appear. There are currently about 405 dead zones in the world, Hammarskjöld reports. The largest dead zone is located in the Gulf of Mexico and currently covers 6,705 square miles.

Due to pollution, there are five major garbage islands in the ocean made up of floating garbage and other pollutants. The famous Great Pacific Garbage Island is estimated to cover 1.6 million square kilometers, making it twice the size of Texas.

Ocean CleanUp confirmed that ten million tons of garbage will be removed by 2024 kilograms of garbage from oceans and rivers around the world. In 2022, the United Nations Environment Program developed a “Global Plastics Treaty”, which aims to focus actions aimed at possibly eliminating plastic pollution by 2040. So far, these actions have not been very effective, as was stated in many speeches during the UNOC3 conference in Nice. Therefore, the declaration includes a postulate that ocean activities must be based on the best scientific knowledge. Traditional knowledge should not be ignored. It is necessary to use the knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems, while recognizing and respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in the protection, restoration and sustainable use of the ocean, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

Actions and funding needed

The Declaration notes that Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 is one of the least funded UN Goals. It therefore calls for the acceleration of ocean action worldwide. However, this requires significant financial resources and the fulfilment of existing commitments and obligations under relevant intergovernmental agreements.

In addition, the conference outcome document recognised the enormous opportunities offered by sustainable ocean-based economies for countries, especially developing countries, and in particular small island developing states and least developed countries, to eradicate poverty and hunger and achieve economic growth and social development.

The Declaration recognised the fundamental role of governance tools such as sustainable ocean economic plans. The aim is to build sustainable ocean-based economies and sustainably manage ocean areas under national jurisdiction. Conference participants encouraged governments in plenary sessions and in sidebar discussions to promote participatory governance schemes for small-scale fisheries.

The importance of efforts by regional fisheries management organizations to establish effective systems for managing living resources and to introduce sustainable fisheries is emphasized. The declaration draws attention to the environmentally degrading role of maritime transport, shipping lanes and infrastructure.

Noting the adoption of the “Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction”, the declaration called on States and regional economic integration organizations that have not done so to consider signing and ratifying, approving or adopting the document. The declaration also calls on States to conduct educational campaigns and awareness-raising activities at the local, national, regional and international levels.