The French president welcomed some 60 heads of state and government in Nice on Monday. While several countries pledged to ratify the treaty on the high seas, non-governmental organizations criticized the limited progress in protecting the ocean floor.

Our first day at the UN Ocean Conference was filled with inspiring conversations and practical ideas to support ocean recovery. We co-hosted an ocean literacy event with the Welsh and Canadian Governments, exploring how national strategies can help embed ocean knowledge into education, policy, and public life.

World leaders at a United Nations conference in France now call for an end to ocean-plundering activity with a global agreement likely on the horizon.

As world leaders gather on the French Riviera to confront mounting threats to the oceans, momentum is building behind a global treaty that aims to bring order to the lawless 'wild west' of the high seas.

The third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) opened Monday in Nice, France, bringing together world leaders, scientists, and environmental advocates to address urgent challenges facing the world's oceans,

The international treaty on the high seas, which focuses on conservation and sustainable use of maritime areas beyond national jurisdictions, has received sufficient support to take effect early in 2026,

The document describes oceans as facing a “global emergency,” ravaged by warming temperatures, plastic pollution, and the extinction of wildlife. U.N. officials and scientists say that could profoundly impact human life, since the oceans provide about half the world’s oxygen, and absorb most of the excess heat from carbon emissions.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has described as "disappointing" the absence of a high-ranking delegation from the United States at a United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France.

Nice, France, 9 June 2025 – The 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference, co-hosted by the Governments of France and Costa Rica, opened today in Nice with strong calls to accelerate action and mobilize all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.

Extracting rare metals from the ocean floor risks harming largely unexplored ecosystems and presents a dilemma the international community must confront at the United Nations Ocean Conference, opening in Nice on June 9.

A new initiative to monitor the health of the world’s oceans was unveiled Sunday at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice. The Starfish barometer provides an annual snapshot of ocean