In June 2025, Nice will host the UNOC, the United Nations Ocean Conference, a major event for ocean protection. Jose Manuel Lamarque speaks with Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, Ambassador for the Poles, about the stakes of this conference and the concerns surrounding it.
The UNOC will take place in June next year in Nice. It’s being widely discussed in the maritime and oceanographic world. But what is all this really about? What lies behind it?
The Future Nice Ocean Accords
« Twenty years ago, people didn’t know what a COP was. Now, they know what a COP is. UNOC stands for United Nations Ocean Conference. So, it’s the United Nations Conference on the Ocean in 2025. This conference, this major conference, will bring together all the countries of the United Nations, 196 countries, and will be held in France, only the third time ever. To give you an idea of the importance we place on the ocean, that same year, we’ll have the 30th COP, the Climate COP, which will be held in Belem, Brazil, in November. But before June in Nice, the Ocean COP, with UNESCO, will probably be the biggest conference ever organized in the history of the world and the ocean. This is a crucial issue.
30,000 delegates from around the world will attend, including states, diplomats, scientists, figures from the economic and financial sectors, civil society, women, and representatives of local populations. We expect around 250 foreign and environmental ministers and perhaps close to a hundred heads of state and government. These people will come together for nearly fifteen days to work on building, much like the Paris Agreements for climate, ten years ago in 2015, the Nice Agreements for the Ocean, which will be presented on the evening of June 13, » says Olivier Poivre d’Arvor.
