Integrate respect for human rights and ocean sustainability into your business and limit your risks whilst making a positive difference to our planet

The United Nations Ocean Conference, UNOC 3, was held in Nice from June 9 to 13, 2025. It was the third of its kind, following those in New York in 2017 and Lisbon in 2022. The UN intends to hold them every three years. The next conference is scheduled for Busan, South Korea, in 2028, co-hosted by South Korea and Chile.

UNOC 3, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, aimed to accelerate action and stakeholder engagement for the implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14): “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”

The UNOC itself, which brings together the 193 UN member states at the level of their governments and official representatives, was preceded by three Special Events (according to the official UN terminology):

• The One Ocean Science Congress, a scientific conference that brought together more than 2,000 scientists from over 100 countries from June 4 to 6 to review progress on the Ocean Decade (2021-2030). Learn more at: www.one-ocean-science-2025.org and www.oceandecade.org; 
• The Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEFF), held in Monaco on June 7 and 8, aimed to mobilize businesses and innovative financing solutions for sustainable ocean activities and SDG 14. Learn more at:  www.beff2025monaco.org; 
• The Ocean Rise and Coastal Resilience Coalition Summit, held in Nice on June 7, was a summit of the coalition of coastal cities and regions, created and chaired by the Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi. The coalition represents more than one billion people living in coastal regions.

In addition to these actors, such a conference mobilizes a large number of representatives from civil society, non-governmental organizations, Indigenous peoples, and other groups.

Knowing & Acting was accredited in the Blue Zone (the heart of the conference, the area for official delegations) and attended the two-week event to listen, learn, and meet partners.

Knowing & Acting was also present as a consultant for CNES for the launch of the Space4Ocean Alliance. Knowing & Acting initiated and facilitated two roundtables dedicated to the ocean and human rights.

Results

In addition to the international exchanges among the thousands of conference participants, “the Nice Commitments for the Ocean” illustrate, through concrete actions, the UNOC3 political declaration. This declaration reflects the achievements of environmental multilateralism since UNOC2 and the agreement of the 193 UN Member States and non-state actors committed to strengthening their collective ambition for ocean protection. These commitments thus constitute, as a whole, an ambitious roadmap for all States and stakeholders within the framework of Sustainable Development Goal 14, the cornerstone of ocean protection by 2030” (excerpt from the official press release). To learn more, read “The Nice Commitments for the Ocean”.

Following UNOC 3, more than 60 countries—the minimum required number for the entry into force of the High Seas Treaty, negotiated over more than 10 years and finalized in 2024—mobilized to ensure its adoption at the UN General Assembly on September 23, 2025 in New York. This major step forward leads to the organization of a Conference of the Parties (COP) dedicated to the ocean in New York before the end of 2026. Further details and timeline to follow as soon as they are available.

Read our articles on the three events in which Knowing & Acting actively participated:

• Launch of the Space4Ocean Alliance as an official side-event of UNOC 3
• Panel “Art as a mobilizing force for the Ocean and Human Rights” within the framework of UNOC 3
• Ocean and Human Rights Session on the training sailboat "Statsraad Lehmkuhl"

On June 7, 2025, during the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3), Nathalie Komatitsch, president and founder of Knowing & Acting, initiated and coordinated, with members of the Ocean and Human Rights platform, an Ocean and Human Rights session entitled “One Ocean Equity: The Right to a Healthy, Sustainable Ocean for All.”* It was held aboard the Norwegian training ship “Statsraad Lehmkuhl,” between Nice and Monaco.

This Ocean and Human Rights session was included as part of a program organized by the municipality of Bergen around three themes: 1) young scientists’ perspectives on the ocean, 2) the contribution of coastal cities to the protection and respect of the ocean, and 3) human rights and the ocean.

The session made a lasting impression on the participants thanks to the quality of the discussions, its audience and its setting: more than 100 people, including representatives from the municipality of Nice, NGOs, etc., sailing in an exceptional setting between Nice and Monaco, in calm and sunny weather, to listen to and discuss the links between the ocean and human rights, and the need to listen to the voices of coastal communities; with speakers including Ms. Marit Warncke, Mayor of Bergen, Mr. Vidar Helgesen, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC), Ms. Astrid Puentes Riaño, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, author of the report "The Ocean and Human Rights," guest speaker, and members of the Ocean and Human Rights platform: the director of the Norwegian Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, Mr. Jostein Kobbeltvedt; Ms. Frances House, Senior Advisor at the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB); Dr. Jament Johnson, director and founder of BlueGreen Coastal Resources, a social enterprise representing fishing communities in the province of Kerala, India, and Mr. Nnimmo Bassey, director of the HOMEF Foundation, from Nigeria. Peter Haugan, one of the lead experts of the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, professor of oceanography and geophysics at the University of Bergen, and former president of the IOC, and Nathalie Komatitsch moderated the sessions. The city of Bergen is a member of the Coalition of coastal regions and cities, created and chaired by the city of Nice and its mayor, Christian Estrosi, which formed one of the four main pillars of UNOC 3.

It seemed essential to us to highlight, within a United Nations conference on the ocean, moreover co-organized by France, the link between ocean protection, the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)14 and respect for human rights in activities which are related to the ocean.

Key takeaways:

• A proactive speech by Vidar Elgesen on the links between human rights and the ocean, and the need to protect and respect both together for a sustainable ocean for all, emphasizing that economic and societal issues should not be seen as opposing forces, as they complement each other for a sustainable approach;
• A summary of the main ideas from her December 2024 report on the ocean and human rights by Astrid Puentes Riaño, stating that "actions for the ocean must be rooted in human rights," and highly motivating remarks to develop collaborations, build relationships with stakeholders on the ground, with an ever-growing number of human rights defenders, and with the Ocean and Human Rights Platform;
• Testimonies from the field by member organizations of the Ocean and Human Rights Platform;
• A presentation of the Ocean and Human Rights platform by Frances House;
• A reminder of the ongoing creation of an ocean and human rights center in Bergen, the "One Ocean Human Rights Center," by the director of the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights.

Participants emphasized the value of the session, both for the topics it addressed and the exchanges it facilitated among speakers and within the audience. They expressed their hope that such exchanges would continue and be replicated. Further collaboration is anticipated between institutional and international actors (UN, UNESCO, etc.) and local stakeholders representing communities impacted by industrial projects, such as the members of the Ocean and Human Rights platform.

For more information, see:

• The slides prepared for the session (PDF)
• The IHRB article
• The Ocean and Human Rights report by UN Special Rapporteur Astrid Riaño-Puentes
• Follow the Statsraad Lehmkuhl's world tour, the "One Ocean Expedition," under the auspices of the Decade of the Ocean, until April 2026, when it returns to Bergen

On June 6, 2025, Knowing & Acting organized a panel dedicated to human rights and the ocean, within the green zone of the official UNOC 3 program, the area open to the public (called La Baleine in Nice), in cooperation with the Metis Arts and Development Fund of the French Development Agency (AFD). The aim was to raise public awareness about human rights and the ocean, what it means and implies and to highlight the mobilizing power of art to have an impact.

For Knowing & Acting, it is essential that a UN conference on the ocean not be held without also giving central importance to respecting the rights of people who depend on the ocean. UNOC 3 was an opportunity to make this intrinsic link between ocean protection, sustainable use of the ocean, SDG 14, and respect for the rights of those who live in and around the ocean clearly evident to the public.

The organizers of the programme at La Baleine and the French Ministry of Culture encouraged synergies between the events offered at La Baleine, which prompted the AFD's Metis Arts and Development Fund and the Ocean and Human Rights platform to organize a joint event.

The panel brought together members of the international Ocean and Human Rights Platform from India and Nigeria, Dr Johnson Jament and Leno Ignatius for BlueGreen Coastal Resources (India, Kerala region), Nnimmo Bassey, its director for the HOMEF Foundation (Nigeria), Tanguy Abittan, project manager at the AFD- Metis Fund for Arts and Development, Ms. Sithabilé Mlotshwa, one of the artists supported by the Metis Fund, and Peter Haugan, Norwegian oceanographer, one of the three Lead Experts of the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, former President of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.

Nathalie Komatitsch, president of Knowing & Acting, moderated the discussion and presented the Ocean and Human Rights Platform, a global network of experts and partners working to enhance respect for human rights in ocean-related activities. The platform was co-created by the internationally renowned think and action tank IHRB – Institute for Human Rights and Business – and the Norwegian human rights foundation, Rafto Foundation for Human Rights. Learn more about the Ocean and Human Rights Platform on IHRB website.

Ocean and Human Rights: What Are We Talking About?

This involves examining respect for human rights in relation to the ocean, which covers two main areas:

1- Respect for the rights of workers at sea and on the sea, which include seafarers and fishermen. This encompasses their labor rights, their working and living conditions, and fundamental human rights. To achieve this, respect for human rights also includes combating illegal fishing activities, human trafficking, etc.

2- Respect for the rights of coastal communities: studying the impacts of various projects or activities on their lands, their fishing grounds where applicable, coastal areas such as mangroves from which they derive their livelihoods, etc.

The Ocean and Human Rights Platform actively works to uphold the rights of seafarers through one of its main programs, which brings together numerous stakeholders and a group of committed businesses. 

Due to time constraints, the panel at UNOC 3 focused on respecting the rights of coastal communities and on the perspectives of representatives from impacted communities, partners of the Ocean and Human Rights Platform.

• Dr. Jament Johnson, founder and executive director of the social enterprise “BlueGreen Coastal Resources”, based in Kerala, India, and Leno Ignatius, director of their art project with and for their fishing communities, shared their experiences of port projects and intensive shipping along their coasts. It impacts their ways of life and livelihoods in negative ways, without their consultation or input. Learn more: www.bluegreencoast.org;
• Nnimmo Bassey, director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in Nigeria, spoke about the impact of oil drilling in the Niger Delta. Mr Bassey is also a storyteller and he recited one of his poems inspired by the beauty of the nature around us. Beyond Nigeria, HOMEF manages a network of partners across Africa (www.homef.org).

All three spoke about their use of art to convey their messages: painting workshops for fishermen by BlueGreen Coastal Resources, and oral tradition and poems for Nnimmo Bassey.

The Metis Fund uses art as a lever to strengthen the impact of development projects, wherever the French Development Agency (AFD) operates. It targets local artists and local art institutions that wish to co-create a project with the AFD. Artist Sithabilé Mlotshwa presented her actions, exhibitions, and works, which illustrate the effects of colonization on certain communities. In particular, she shared the awareness her thematics gained from the King of the Netherlands after he visited one of her exhibitions. At the occasion of the UNOC conference, the Metis Fund published “The Ocean Manifesto”, an art book bringing together the works of 100 artists and a personal statement from each of them in support of the ocean.

Peter Haugan spoke about the crucial importance of upholding human rights when working, as he does, on the ocean. 

Knowing and Acting notes from the discussions in this roundtable, and more broadly throughout the UNOC conference, that it is essential, if we wish to have an impact and drive more action, to engage the emotions of stakeholders, decision-makers, fellow citizens—all of us. We cannot simply rely on rational appeals. Art represents a powerful tool: painting and dance, as seen in the programs presented during the panel, music, as illustrated by the concert organized by the Hugo Panonacle agency at the Nice Opera House during UNOC 3, which left a lasting impression on those who attended.

More information: 

• Slide-show presented during the panel (PDF) 
• Page about the panel on IHRB website
• Metis Fund for Arts & Development website