What UN Secretary General Told The World At Ongoing 2025 Ocean Conference In France

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL PRESS STAKEOUT TO THE UNITED NATIONS OCEAN CONFERENCE ON 10 JUNE 2025

Good morning,

We are in Nice on a mission – save the ocean, to save our future.

That was my message at the Conference opening yesterday, and it is the message I have carried through all my meetings.

The ocean is the lifeblood of our planet.

It produces half of the oxygen we breathe, nourishes billions of people, supports hundreds of millions of jobs, and underpins global trade.

For many, the ocean is more than a source of food and livelihood.

It shapes cultures…anchors identities… and feeds the soul.

Yet, we are treating it like a limitless resource – pretending it can absorb our abuse without consequence.

Every year, we see more troubling signs that our ocean is under siege.

Fish populations are collapsing due to reckless illegal fishing and overexploitation.

Climate change is driving ocean acidification and heating – destroying coral reefs, accelerating sea level rise, and threatening communities worldwide.

And plastic pollution is choking marine life and infesting our food chain – ultimately ending up in our blood and even our brains.

When we poison the ocean, we poison ourselves.

Dear friends,

There’s a tipping point approaching – beyond which recovery may become impossible.

And let us be clear:

Powerful interests are pushing us towards the brink.

We are facing a hard battle, against a clear enemy.

Its name is greed.

Greed that sows doubt… denies science… distorts truth… rewards corruption… and destroys life for profit.

We cannot let greed dictate the fate of our planet.

That is why we are here this week: to stand in solidarity against those forces and reclaim what belongs to us all.

Governments, business leaders, fishers, scientists…  everyone has a responsibility and a vital role to play.

Throughout my many engagements at the Conference, I have highlighted four priorities.

First – we must transform how we harvest the ocean’s bounty.

It is not about fishing, it’s about how we fish.

Sustainable fishing is not a choice – it is our only option.

This means stronger global cooperation, strict enforcement against illegal fishing, and expanded protected areas to rebuild stocks and safeguard marine life.

And it means delivering on the 30 by 30 target – to conserve and manage at least 30 per cent of marine and coastal areas by 2030.

We have a moral duty to ensure future generations inherit oceans swarming with life.

Second – we must confront the plague of plastic pollution.

This means phasing out single-use plastics, overhauling waste systems, and boosting recycling.

All countries must quickly finalize an ambitious, legally binding global treaty to end plastic pollution. And we hope that this will happen this year.

Third – the fight against climate change must extend to the seas.

For decades, the ocean has been absorbing carbon emissions and taking the heat of a warming planet.

That comes at great cost.

As we prepare for COP30 in Brazil, countries must present ambitious national climate action plans.

These plans must align with limiting the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius;

Cover all emissions and the whole economy;

And in line with the commitments countries have made to accelerate the global energy transition and seize the benefits of clean power.

Last year, for the first time, the annual global temperature was 1.5°C hotter than pre-industrial times.

Scientists are clear: that does not mean that the long-term global temperature rise limit to 1.5 degrees is out of reach.

It means we need to fight harder.

The ocean depends on it – and so do we.

I urge countries to champion ocean-based climate solutions – like protecting mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs.

We must also increase financial and technological support to developing countries – so that they can protect themselves from extreme weather and respond when disasters strike.

The survival of coastal communities and Small Island Developing States depends on it.

And fourth – we must implement the recent Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction.

The Agreement is a historic step towards protecting vast areas of our ocean.

I congratulate the 134 countries that have signed and the 49 and counting that have ratified the Agreement – including 18 new signatures and 18 ratifications yesterday alone.

The entry into force is within our sight.

And I call on all remaining nations to join swiftly.

We do not have a moment to lose.

Finally, on seabed mining, we have a collective responsibility to proceed with great caution.

I support the ongoing work of the International Seabed Authority on this important issue.

As I said yesterday, the deep sea cannot become the Wild West.

Ladies and gentlemen of the media,

The urgency of this moment cannot be overstated.

Ocean health is inseparable from human health, climate stability, and global prosperity.

But I leave Nice energized and encouraged by the many pledges already made.

Encouraged by island nations and Indigenous Peoples sharing their stories and expertise…

Encouraged by young activists demanding action and accountability…

Scientists developing innovative solutions for all…

Business leaders investing in the blue economy…

This is the global coalition we need.

I urge everyone to step forward with decisive commitments and tangible funding.

The ocean has given us so much.

It is time we returned the favor.

Our health, our climate, and our future depend on it.

Thank you. Je vous remercie.

Question: Secretary General, you warned against a wild west on deep sea mining. Beyond words, what specific actions would you like countries to take to either stop deep sea mining or put in place strong regulations?

Secretary-General: Well, as I mentioned, there is an institution that has a key role to play, and is playing it, and I trust that they will be doing what is necessary to avoid the Wild West that I mentioned. It is the International Seabed Authority, and I think it’s extremely important not to have any kind of initiative that is beyond whatever will be established by the International Seabed Authority.

Question: Mr. Secretary-General, you said we have to save the ocean. Are you happy with this conference? Do you think it will make a difference?

Secretary-General: I think it is making a difference. There is one aspect that is particularly evident. UNCLOS, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, took 12 years to enter into force. We are two years from the BBNJ, and we have already, as of today, 49 ratifications [Editor’s Note: 50 including the EU] with 15 commitments to do it soon, which means that it will, in the next few months, reach the entry into force. That is a record – a little bit more than two years. So, I see a momentum and an enthusiasm that was difficult to find in the past.

And the way this meeting was attended – not only by countries, but by civil society, by the business community, by indigenous communities, representing more than double those that came to the Lisbon conference that I attended two years ago – shows the very strong commitment made by countries in relation to enlarging the protection areas. All these shows a momentum that, to be honest, I had never witnessed in conferences of this type. Am I entirely happy? Of course not. I would like things to move much faster.

And let’s not forget that there is a clear link between biodiversity, climate and marine protection. And in that clear link, we still have some dramatic gaps. And one of the most worrying ones is, of course, the impact of climate change on the oceans – the fact that the rising of sea levels is accelerating; the fact that waters are more and more warmer with acidification. We see the impacts in coastal areas. We see the corals bleaching, and we see that climate change became an extremely dramatic threat to the lives of our oceans. And there, I have to say, we are moving slowly, and I hope the COP in Belém will be able to provide the necessary acceleration.

Question: You said that sustainable fishing was the only option left, but for small states like Sri Lanka that’s struggling with bottom trawling – a regional practice  – and IUU fishing [Illegal, unreported and unregulated], we don’t have the capacity to enforce and control external actors like that. What can the UN do to assist small states to protect its fish stocks and marine ecology?

Secretary-General: I think we must develop forms, first of all, of accountability in relation to illegal fishing and in relation to the way fishing resources of developing countries are being exploited by a certain number of predators. So, there is a question of accountability, and we’ll be doing our best to increase the mechanisms of international accountability that for the moment – let us be clear – are extremely limited and inefficient.

Question: CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are a double problem for the ocean because of acidification, and they are hitting the atmosphere and the ocean. At the same time, there’s a lot of oil industry activity that happens in the ocean, which is a continuing risk. What message and agreements do you expect to hear from the countries in this conference regarding the fossil fuel industry or is this not a subject right now in this conference?

Secretary-General: I believe the energy transition will be more central in the COP meeting than in this meeting. But there are two things that, for me, are absolutely evident. First is that 85 per cent of the emissions correspond to fossil fuels. So the problem of climate change is essentially linked to fossil fuels. The second is that we are witnessing an energy transition that demonstrates that the cheapest way to produce energy is through renewables.

You might have heard what I said about greed. There is a dramatic effort from the fossil fuel industry to distort the reality. But one thing for me is inevitable – the fossil fuel age is coming to an end, and the renewable age will be there as the age of the future. The problem is, will that be done on time? And what we need is to accelerate that transition.  And I hope that in the COP there will be a very strong message in this regard.

Question: I wanted to ask if you have concerns generally about the 1.5 target slipping out from policymakers’ speeches as people come to accept that it’s not likely to be met. Are you concerned that people are moving ahead and starting to talk about 2 degrees? How do you keep up the message around 1.5 when the science looks certain that it will be passed?

Secretary-General: I am concerned. Scientists are very clear when they tell us that the 1.5 degrees is still achievable as a limit to global warming. But they are also unanimous in saying that we are on the brink of a tipping point that might make it impossible. So there is a matter of urgency that is extremely important, and that is the reason of my concern. Until now, we have not seen enough urgency, enough speed in making things move fast, in energy transition and in other aspects that are essential to keep 1.5 degrees alive. A lot of progress is being seen, but not yet enough, and we must accelerate our transition. And this is, for me, the most important objective of the next COP, and of the pressure we are making at the present moment on countries to have Nationally Determined Contributions, the so-called national action plans, that are fully compatible with 1.5 degrees, which foresees until 2035 a dramatic reduction of emissions.