
UNOC 2025: Where Does International Cooperation For Oceans Stand?
The 2025 UN Ocean Conference is critical for international ocean cooperation, bringing together global stakeholders to address the ocean polycrisis through the theme: "Accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean." Building upon previous conferences in 2017 and 2022, UNOC 2025 occurs at a pivotal moment following the adoption of landmark agreements like the High Seas Treaty and the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework, while confronting urgent challenges including pollution, overfishing and marine biodiversity degradation. The conference aims to produce the "Nice Ocean Action Plan" and a political declaration; these could establish foundations for post-2030 ocean governance, serving as a crucial test of multilateral cooperation in addressing unprecedented threats to our blue planet with only five years remaining to achieve SDG 14.