Ocean science at the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference: What to look out for 👀

Welcome to the fifth edition of our special newsletter for the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference!

This fortnightly newsletter aims to provide you with the latest updates, resources, and insights to help navigate this month’s busy ocean agenda — with a focus on ocean science. You’ll find event highlights, key takeaways and useful resources to help make sense of it all.

Please note: The United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) is organised by the Governments of France and Costa Rica, with support from the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs. The Ocean Decade and UNESCO are not involved in its organization.

📌 Global ocean agenda: What’s happening in June 2025?

• 3-6 June: One Ocean Science Congress, Nice, France | UN Special Event | Key outcome: 10 recommendations to Heads of State and Government
• 7 June: Ocean Rise & Coastal Resilience Summit, Nice, France | UN Special Event | Key outcome: Launch of the Ocean Rise & Coastal Resilience Coalition
• 7-8 June: Blue Economy & Finance Forum, Monaco | UN Special Event | Highlights & key takeaways
• 8 June: UN World Oceans Day, Nice, France
• 9-13 June: 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference (#UNOC3), Nice, France | Registrations are closed | Conference programme | Green Zone information - visitors must register ahead
• 11 June: Ocean Decade Forum: Ambition, Action, Impact and the Road Ahead, Nice, France | In-person registrations are closed, but the event will be livestreamed here | Programme

🌊 Week of 3-8 June: Key takeaways & announcements 

The Ocean Decade team has been on-site in Nice, France, this week, hosting events and providing opportunities to put ocean science and knowledge at the heart of global ocean action. Find below our key takeaways from this first week.

📢 At-a-glance: Key news & announcements 

• #GlobalNews | As of 8 June 2025, 32 countries have now ratified the BBNJ Agreement – or High Seas Treaty: the European Union, along with six of its Member States, including Cyprus, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Portugal, and Slovenia, ratified the treaty on 28 May. Dominica, Norway and Romania followed shortly after. 60 States must ratify the treaty for it to come into force.
• #GlobalNews | On 5 June, the European Commission adopted the European Ocean Pact – the EU’s strategy to better protect the ocean, promote a thriving blue economy and support the well-being of people living in coastal areas. 
• #UNOC3 | On 6 June, the One Ocean Science Congress issued 10 key recommendations to Heads of States and Government, complemented by the One Ocean Science Congress Manifesto – which remains open to digital signatures here.
• #UNOC3 | The Ocean Rise & Coastal Resilience Coalition, formally launched during the Ocean Rise & Coastal Resilience Summit, aims to bring together a thousand cities and regions, representing 1 billion people worldwide confronted with sea level rise, to support the adaptation and resilience of coastal cities and regions across the globe.
• #OceanDecade | The first Decade Collaborative Centre dedicated to advancing solutions for a sustainable, resilient and equitable ocean economy – the focus of Decade Challenge 4 – was launched in Barcelona, Spain, on 5 June.  
• #OceanDecade | The President of Kenya H.E. Dr William Ruto, the Secretary-General of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Dr Mathias Jonas, the Chairman of The Nippon Foundation Yohei Sasakawa join the Ocean Decade Alliance, a network of eminent partners that can lead by example to catalyze support for the Decade through targeted resource mobilization, networking, and influence. The Nippon Foundation also joins the Ocean Decade Alliance as an institutional member.
• #OceanDecade | The Ocean Decade Alliance calls on governments, the private sector, philanthropies, non-governmental organizations, and academia to accelerate the mapping of the world's ocean. 
• #OceanDecade | A collective of United Nations agencies including UNESCO Ocean and global partners launched the co-design process for One Ocean Finance – a bold new effort to unlock billions in new financing from ocean-dependent industries and blue economy sectors. 

🔵 Event recap: One Ocean Science Congress (3-6 June)

Co-organised by CNRS and Ifremer, this congress brought together over 2,000 scientists in Nice, France, to support global discussions at the 2025 UN Ocean Conference under the motto: #ScienceForTheOcean. 

• At the opening ceremony, Vidar Helgesen, UNESCO Ocean Executive Secretary, challenged attendees to push their disciplinary boundaries, adding: "The ocean requires us all to come together in a truly interdisciplinary way to deliver solutions that support a sustainable future for us and for those that come after us. Ocean science is the foundation for our future."
• On 3 June, the congress' first Townhall Meeting explored the progress made in implementing the recommendations and actions of the Barcelona Statement – a collective statement of priorities for ocean science and knowledge in the framework of the Ocean Decade, issued at the 2024 Ocean Decade Conference – and the remaining challenges and opportunities. 
• On 4 June, Townhall Meeting 4, moderated by Alison Clausen, Deputy Coordinator of the #OceanDecade at UNESCO Ocean , discussed how to fund research at multi-levels to contribute to the objectives of the Ocean Decade. 

🔵 Event recap: Ocean Rise & Coastal Resilience Coalition Summit (7 June)

Co-organised by the City of Nice and the Ocean & Climate Platform, this Summit brought together government representatives from coastal cities and regions and from island States threatened by rising sea levels to launch the Ocean Rise and Coastal Resilience Coalition.

The Ocean Decade moderated the session ‘Putting science at the heart of coastal adaptation and regions’ adaptation‘, which explored how coastal cities can access and apply ocean science and knowledge for decision-making to enhance coastal resilience.

Read the event summary by the International Institute for Sustainable Development Earth Negotations Bulletin here. 

🌊 Week 9-13 June: How the Ocean Decade is contributing

This week, as UNOC gets in full swing, we will continue to drive discussions that will help shape the Decade going forward, and launch new initiatives with global partners, including: 

• A co-branded call for projects with the Belmont Forum
• Decade Actions focused on ocean pollution with the UN Environment Programme , Small Island Developing States with the support of Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and on traditional ocean knowledge in the Pacific with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation
• Tools to facilitate access to funding and capacity building for ocean science

Find the full list of Ocean Decade events here. You’ll also find the full list of events and engagements by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO-IOC) at UNOC here.

🔵 UNOC Official programme: Ocean Action Panels.

📍 Quai Amiral Infernet, Nice, France

The 2025 UN Ocean Conference is structured around 10 Ocean Action Panels which are collaborative and multi-stakeholder in nature and will focus on commitments and actions to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.

UNESCO-IOC has been tasked by UN-DESA to lead two Ocean Action Panels:

• Ocean Action Panel 2: Increasing ocean-related scientific cooperation, knowledge, capacity building, marine technology and education to strengthen the science-policy interface for ocean health ⏰ 9 June, 15:00-18:00 CEST 📍 UNOC Blue Zone
• Ocean Action Panel 7: Leveraging ocean, climate and biodiversity interlinkages ⏰ 12 June, 10:00-13:00 CEST 📍 UNOC Blue Zone

🚨 Blue Zone accreditation is required to attend these events.

🔵 10 June: Launch of Ocean Matcher — a new tool to match philanthropic funding to ocean science.

📍 Aboard the Statsraad Lehmkuhl vessel, Port Lympia

Ocean Matcher is a new algorithm-driven online platform to connect ocean projects with philanthropic funding. Built by and for philanthropy, in cooperation with the Ocean Decade Foundations Dialogue – the first global network of its kind – the tool offers a solution by matching funders with a pipeline of high-quality initiatives. 

It will be formally launched with an event ‘Ocean Matcher: When smart funding meets ocean impact’ on 10 June, 15:00-16:00 CEST, on the Statsraad Lehmkuhl vessel in Port Lympia

🔗 Registrations are now closed. More information on this tool coming soon on our website!

🔵 11 June: Ocean Decade Forum: Ambition, Action, Impact and the Road Ahead.

📍 Centre Universitaire Méditerranéen and online

Our flagship UNOC event will showcase co-designed science as a driver of actionable solutions, with a focus on turning knowledge into policy and scaling global efforts to local impact. 

🗣️ Find the full programme and list of speakers here. 🖥️ Watch the livestream here – no registration needed.

Please note that registrations for in-person participation are now closed, and that registrations are for in-person attendance of the Ocean Decade Forum only and does not allow access to other 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference events.

🔵 12 June: UNESCO Ocean day aboard the Statsraad Lehmkuhl!

Aboard the iconic Statsraad Lehmkuhl, UNESCO-IOC will host a full day of curated programming to showcase its leadership in ocean science and amplify its impact on sustainable development, including the below series of Ocean Decade events:

• Launch of eDNA Expeditions II: Advancing towards operational sampling & eDNA sampling demonstration. ⏰ 10:30-12:30 CEST

• Heirs To Our Ocean: Charting a New Intergenerational Course in the Ocean Decade. ⏰ 11:00-12:30 CEST

• Advancing “Skills, knowledge, technology and participation for all”: An interactive marketplace for capacity development tools and methodologies. This event will include a demonstration of an upcoming matchmaking platform for capacity development, currently being developed by the Ocean Decade. ⏰ 13:00-15:30 CEST

• A global ocean free from the harmful impacts of pollution by 2050. UNESCO-IOC, in partnership with UNEP and with support from the Nippon Foundation, will present a new Ocean Decade initiative to combat ocean pollution ⏰ 13:30-15:00 CEST

🚨 Please note that registrations for these events are now closed.

🔵 Beyond Borders Pavilion.

📍 UNOC Green Zone ("The Whale/La Baleine")

On 2-13 June, UNESCO Ocean, the French Biodiversity Agency Office français de la biodiversité and Italy’s National Research Council CNR-ISMAR Institute of Marine Sciences is hosting the the Beyond Borders Pavilion in the Green Zone of UNOC to invite everyone to explore and engage with ocean literacy, conservation, and marine biodiversity. Register to attend the Green Zone here.

🚨 Coming up & useful resources

• 🚨 If you're planning to visit the UNOC Green Zone, called “La Baleine/The Whale” and held in the Palais des Expositions in Nice, you must register ahead of time. Find all the information you need and register here.
• Keep up-to-date with what’s happening at UNOC with the International Institute for Sustainable Development Earth Negotiations Bulletin’s daily highlights and summaries.
• Find key Ocean Decade resources and communications materials on the Ocean Decade Trello Board.
• In addition, the UNOC Trello Board is UNOC’s one-stop-shop with key information and communications assets for partners and communicators.
• Find everything you need to know about SDG 14 on ‘Life below water’ here, and download SDG 14 communications assets here.