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Join us online on 18 June from 2pm to 4pm CEST for a dialogue with scientists from UN Agencies and International Oceanographic Institutions to outline expectations for the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), co-hosted by France and Costa Rica in Nice on 9-13 June 2025.
France and Costa Rica will host the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in Nice, France, from 9 to 13 June 2025. Both co-hosts have three priorities for this conference in order to respond to the state of emergency facing the ocean : (i) working for the successful conclusion of ocean-related multilateral processes to raise the level of ambition for ocean protection; (ii) mobilising funding to support a blue sustainable economy; (iii) strengthening and better disseminating knowledge related to ocean sciences for better decision-making.
Prior to the 2025 UN Conference and as a UNOC special event proposed by France and Costa Rica, the One Ocean Science Congress (4-6 June 2025) will bring together international scientists with the aim to provide Heads of State, Government, all participants of UNOC3, and the broader society, with comprehensive scientific insights on the Ocean’s health, dynamics and future trajectory, on its conservation and sustainable uses, and on the services and benefits it provides to humanity. It seeks to bridge the gap between science and action by presenting recent findings from authoritative sources like the IPCC, IPBES, WOA and the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy. It will explore various scenarios for the ocean’s resilience and restoration capacity, assessing its ability to support significant transitions outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Fostered by the organizing teams of the UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs (DESA), Costa Rica and France, UNOC regional and thematic dialogues are organized in the form of webinars from spring 2024 to spring 2025. Co-chaired by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC), the webinar “From Barcelona 2024 to Nice 2025: Science to Policy and Action at UNOC3” brings together participants to provide views and suggestions on:
- The link between policy action and ocean science: What desirable UNOC outcomes should we work towards to bridge the science/policy gap?
- Enhancing ocean observation, data sharing and applications to measure the health of the ocean at multiple scales through common metrics and indicators: how to bring it together?
- What should emerge from the One Ocean Science Congress in Nice (4-6 June) specially commissioned by France and Costa Rica as a UNOC special event?
Programme of the webinar
Introduction
- Ambassador Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, Special Envoy of the President for the 2025 UN Ocean Conference, France
- Vidar Helgesen, Executive Secretary, UNESCO-IOC
Moderation
Ashok Adicéam (UNOC3), Julian Barbière & Alison Clausen (UNESCO-IOC)
I – Barcelona 2024 Ocean Decade Conference, Outcomes and priorities for the Decade
Moderated discussion led by Julian Barbière (UNESCO-IOC) with Dr. Vera Agostini (Deputy Director, Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, FAO; Ocean Decade Vision 2030 process, Sustainable Blue Food Working Group Co-Chair ); Prof. Nadia Pinardi (Professor, University of Bologna; Director, Decade Collaborative Center for Coastal Resilience, Italy; Ocean Decade Vision 2030 process, Coastal Resilience Working Group Co-Chair); Dr. Jorge Cortés-Núñez (Researcher, Center for Research in Marine Sciences and Limnology – CIMAR).
II – Expectations from the UNOC Conference: what should emerge from the One Ocean Science Congress?
Moderated by Alison Clausen (UNESCO-IOC), the discussions will be led by Prof. Jean-Pierre Gattuso, (Director of Research, CNRS) and Francois Houllier, (President, IFREMER), Co-chairs of OOSC, with Peter Haugan (Director, Norway’s Institute of Marine Research; Chief Scientist, High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy), Prof. Rashid Sumaila, (Professor and Canada Research Chair in Interdisciplinary Ocean and Fisheries Economics, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia).
III- Supporting means and tools to measure ocean health and guide decision-making. Strengthening the value chain to deliver policy relevant information for sustainable ocean management
Setting the stage by Prof. David Obura (Chair , IPBES; Director, CORDIO East Africa). Presentations from Joanna Post (Head, Ocean Observations and Services, UNESCO-IOC; GOOS), Pierre Bahurel (Mercator International) and Dr. Françoise Gaill (Towards IPOS).
Moderated discussion with Peter De Menocal, (President, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), Prof. Nathalie Braz-Martial, (Vice-Chancellor, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi), Dr. Ravichandran, (Secretary Science to the Government of India; President of INCOIS) and Prof. Fang Li Qiao, (Deputy Director, First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry Natural Resources, China).
Concluding Remarks
- Vladimir Jares, Director of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, United Nations
- Ambassador Gina Guillen, Special Envoy to the President of Costa Rica for the Ocean
This webinar is expected to be part of a series of online consultations, “Blue Talks – Towards UNOC3” between Spring 2024 and Spring 2025. The webinars will include the major international scientific institutions and UN-accredited NGOs with scientific expertise, including from SIDS, Europe, the Americas, Africa (during the Blue Africa Summit in Tangiers in October 2024), the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. The aim is to ensure that all stakeholders are consulted regularly to ensure the recommendations achieve the broadest possible scientific and political consensus.