June 19, 2025 — The United Nations Ocean Conference, held June 9-13 in Nice, France, saw some progress on better protecting the hundreds of thousands of species that live in marine waters and the communities that depend on the sea for work or sustenance. New countries committed to the high seas treaty, a moratorium on deep-sea mining and the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, while a huge group of nations pushed for a strong global plastics treaty.
The conference, which followed previous installments in New York in 2017 and Lisbon in 2022, was a place for members of public and private institutions to exchange ideas and for countries to make pledges.
“I urge all countries to come forward with bold pledges,” said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in opening remarks on June 9. “We live in an age of turmoil, but the resolve I see here gives me hope.”
In addition to progress on various treaties, several countries moved to create marine protected areas (MPAs) and reserves, or strengthen existing ones, including the announcement of the world’s largest MPA in French Polynesia. Meanwhile, a wide range of groups announced additional marine conservation initiatives.
International agreements
During the conference, 19 countries newly ratified the agreement on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ), also called the high seas treaty. (International waters are often called the high seas.)
BBNJ will enter into force shortly after 60 countries ratify it. The ratifications in Nice — by countries including Indonesia, Mauritania, Fiji and Belgium — bring the total count to 50 nations.
The enactment of BBNJ is generally regarded as key to the future of marine conservation in the high seas, accounting for more than half of the world’s ocean area. For example, it could lead to the development of large-scale MPAs in the high seas.
“This week’s ratifications of the high seas treaty in Nice mark a major milestone for ocean action. Since the agreement was finalized two years ago, this conference has served as a beacon for nations to work toward ratification,” Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance, an umbrella group of NGOs, said in a statement. “But we must keep our foot on the #RaceForRatification accelerator,” she added.
Also in Nice, 95 countries issued a declaration calling for a strong, binding global plastics treaty, which is still under negotiation, with the next round of talks to be held in Geneva in August.
The treaty is aimed at dealing with a severe problem: The equivalent of about 2,000 garbage trucks of plastics are dumped into oceans, rivers and lakes every day. As well, microplastics are abundant in marine ecosystems from the surface to the deep sea.
The most controversial part of the plastics treaty is a proposed cap on plastics production.
Supporters of the cap argue that the production of plastics, which are derived from fossil fuels, is the root of the problem. However, petrostates such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia have vocally resisted such a cap, insisting that the treaty focus on limiting consumption and improving recycling. The petrostates were not among the 95 signatories in Nice, nor were other plastic-producing nations such as the United States, South Korea and China.
Proponents of the cap blame the power of the plastics lobby. The plastics industry draws revenues of roughly $700 billion per year, and production is expected to rise in coming decades.
Officials from many countries, including Colombia, Mexico and France, spoke out for a production cap at the conference, as did speakers from small island developing states.
“We should not have a treaty just so that we have a very nice text — we need to match ambition with action,” Steven Victor, the minister of agriculture, fisheries and environment of Palau, an island in the Pacific Ocean, said at a plastics panel in Nice.
Victor explained to audience members the injustices of the current plastic industry.
“I don’t know if you’ve been to any island,” he said. “You won’t see any plastic being produced. You’ll see our beaches being littered with plastics. No matter how much we try to pick it up, it keeps coming.”