By Bianca Haas, Eric van Doorn, and Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki
Between the 9 – 13 of June 2025, the ocean community went on a pilgrimage to the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC), co-organised by Costa Rica and France, in Nice, France. This conference aimed to bring together all actors to accelerate actions to conserve and sustainably use the ocean. Among those thousands of participants were ANCORS researchers, Anais Remont, Bianca Haas, Dominique Benzaken, Erik van Doorn, and Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki. Besides current researchers, ANCORS was well represented through numerous ANCORS alumni (see, for example, below). Overall, this conference allowed actors from all across the world to reconnect or form new partnerships, which will hopefully result in actions to protect our ocean.
ANCORS researchers actively contributed to side events during UNOC. Below you will find a brief overview of these engagements.
Planetary boundaries
Dr Erik van Doorn co-organised a session in the European Digital Ocean Pavilion about the increased importance of the ocean in the planetary boundary’s framework. Together with Ellycia Harrould-Kolieb from the University of Melbourne, his presentation focused on the links of the framework with multilateral environmental agreements. To keep the Earth liveable for current and future generations, scientists proposed the idea of planetary boundaries. They identified nine processes of the Earth system for which they quantified a boundary, some of which have a clear marine component. Staying within these nine planetary boundaries would assure ‘a safe operating space for humanity’. Of the nine process, stratospheric ozone depletion and atmospheric loading currently lack an obvious connection with marine governance. This is very different for climate change and acidification of the ocean. Change in land use, freshwater use, biogeochemical flows and novel entities all have a terrestrial component. Most of the marine pollution comes from land, however, but the international marine governance of land-based pollution is relatively weak. Plastics comprise a category of novel entities, one that is not yet subject to a specific global regime as such but will be soon. Plastics can also contribute to climate change as a process, establishing a link between the planetary boundaries for novel entities and climate change. There now exist legal bases for the conservation of marine biosphere integrity now both within as well as beyond national jurisdiction. The session attracted an in-person audience of around fifty people and more than 400 hundred on-line.
Science for the implementation of the new Ocean Treaty
Dr Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki was invited to a roundtable to speak about the role of science for the implementation of the new ocean treaty, alongside other experts on the Agreement for Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), including Prof. Lisa Levin from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Angelique Pouponneau, the lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States in the BBNJ process, Prof. Alice Vadrot, political scientist at the University of Vienna and Prof. Murray Roberts from the University of Edinburgh. Dr. Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki pointed to the diversity of science and existing inequalities between the Global North and the Global South, which the BBNJ agreement will need to address and highlighted the value of cooperation in data collection and sharing among different organisations in areas beyond national jurisdiction. While science is crucial for the implementation of the new Ocean Treaty, yet, the areas of the ocean that are chosen to explore, the methods that are used, and the research questions asked differ across the world. Currently, there is a bias towards science from the Global North. There is a need to reflect on these realities in the implementation of the new agreement and when designing the new Scientific and Technical Body. The new Treaty is an opportunity to create a more inclusive knowledge base for ocean governance. Other frameworks and bodies, providing satellite, environmental, or bycatch data and information about human activities, can support the new treaty and offer an opportunity for scientific collaborations. The round table was hosted by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the EU Science Diplomacy Alliance, and the University of Bergen.
Human Rights at Sea
Dr Bianca Haas was invited by CEDMAR, the Centre for Studies on the Law of the Sea at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, to talk about the role of regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) in supporting human rights. Alongside leading experts on human rights at sea, this event aimed to raise awareness of the importance of human rights at sea and the need to develop a more integrated approach that includes human rights across different human activities. To support this call for integration, the organisers developed the Nice Declaration on Human Rights at Sea that aims to achieve universal participation and engagement through 22 principles.
Regional Fisheries Management Organisations and the High Seas Treaty
ANCORS also co-organised an event on multi-stakeholder cooperation for the high seas at the Beyond Borders Pavilion. This event was led by the High Seas Alliance, Pew Charitable Trusts, Sargasso Sea Commission, and the Tara Ocean Foundation, showcasing the voices and roles of different sectors and communities governing areas beyond national jurisdiction to ensure a more harmonious coordination and cooperation. ANCORS and the Pew Charitable Trust organised a segment, focusing on the role of regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) in supporting the implementation of the BBNJ Agreement. Nichola Clark from the Pew Charitable Trust, Bronwen Golder from the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, and Hussain Sinan from the Ministry of Fisheries and Ocean Resources, Maldives, talked about the challenges and opportunities for RFMOs under the BBNJ Agreement, what needs to be done to make RFMOs “BBNJ-ready” and BBNJ “RFMO-ready”, and how RFMOs and BBNJ can complement each other.
Conclusion
UNOC 3 is celebrated as a great success with a boost in commitments to conserve and sustainably use the ocean. It provided a fantastic opportunity to meet and share ideas with experts from around the world. Moving forward, we hope that these commitments are not only hollow words, but that we see real actions.