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: