With the 3rd UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) set to take place June 9-13 in Nice, and co-chaired by France and Costa Rica, Europe’s environmental leadership is under the spotlight. The EU has made ambitious pledges on ocean protection, but its progress on ratifying the landmark High Seas Treaty has been slow. So far, only a handful of member states have signed on, threatening to hinder progress on a landmark agreement for ocean protection.
By Pascal Lamy and Geneviève Pons
PARIS / BRUSSELS , May 9 2025 – If one so wished, it would be entirely possible to spend a lifetime travelling from one international environmental conference to the next, without ever returning home. But the relentless pace of these meetings does not always translate into equally rapid action.
Instead, the result is often painfully slow progress, watered down commitments and timelines that can stretch into years if not decades. Public frustration is mounting, tired of broken promises. It wants action to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises before it is too late.
In this void of global environmental leadership, the European Union has an opportunity to step up on the stewardship of our planet’s greatest shared resource: the ocean.
Credit: Josh Sorenson
The ocean is Earth’s life support system. It covers over 70% of our planet, regulates the climate by absorbing carbon dioxide, produces at least half of the oxygen we breathe, sustains millions of livelihoods, provides food for billions, and holds mysteries we’ve only just begun to uncover.
Yet, despite its fundamental role in planetary health and human survival, the ocean remains under constant assault from climate change, pollution, overfishing, and habitat destruction.
Most alarmingly, vast areas of the ocean — especially the High Seas — remain dangerously under protected.
That is why it is both remarkable and welcome that, as EU Council President Antonio Costa highlighted, all 27 EU Heads of State and Government reached – for the very first time – ambitious conclusions on the ocean at the March 2025 European Council.
Among these was a commitment to swiftly ratify the new High Seas Treaty, a landmark international agreement finalized in 2023 after nearly two decades of negotiations.
This treaty, also known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, is a cornerstone of marine conservation and was hailed as a major victory for multilateralism. It holds enormous potential to protect marine life in High Seas — the two-thirds of the ocean that lie beyond national borders. But treaties do not protect ecosystems — countries do.
And unless 60 nations ratify the agreement so it can enter into force, its historic potential will remain nothing more than words on paper.
Here, the EU has a chance to lead by example — and by numbers. With its 27 member states, it holds the key to being a game-changer in accelerating the process of entry into force. The EU finalized its ratification in June 2024, but progress among individual member states has lagged.
As of now, only France and Spain have formally deposited their ratification instruments with the United Nations. Several others are close, but the overall momentum is insufficient. In a positive development aimed at facilitating ratification and preparing for implementation, the EU Commission has recently proposed a Directive for transposing the BBNJ Agreement into EU law.
Member states must urgently speed up their national processes to complete their ratification and send a strong signal of global leadership. This urgency and roadmap are outlined in detail in Europe Jacques Delors’ most recent policy brief, which highlights the key institutional, legal, and diplomatic levers available to the EU and its member states.
The stakes could not be higher. 40% of EU citizens live in coastal areas, which contribute around 40% of the EU’s GDP. The EU, together with its overseas territories, also has the largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world. From economic stability to energy security and food supply, the ocean is inextricably tied to Europe’s prosperity. A degraded ocean means a less secure, less resilient, and less prosperous Europe.
True leadership means more than making bold declarations, it is about delivering results.
This June, the 3rd UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) will take place on European soil — in Nice. The Conference has been designated as the key political moment to secure the 60 ratifications needed to trigger the Treaty’s entry into force.
Achieving this goal is essential not only to uphold the EU leadership and credibility on ocean governance, but also to meet broader international commitments — including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s goal of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030 (30×30).
The EU must intensify its ‘blue diplomacy’, leveraging initiatives like the High Ambition Coalition for the High Seas Treaty, which it helped establish, to drive global ratification and implementation efforts of its 52 members. This conference needs to prove that once again environmental multilateralism can still deliver when it matters most.
The EU has set an ambitious course on ocean governance. The imminent launch of the European Ocean Pact, which builds on the foundations laid by the Manifesto for a European Ocean Pact initiated by Europe Jacques Delors and Oceano Azul Foundation, and the recent EU Council conclusions on the Ocean, are strong signals of intent.
With the global order in flux and geopolitical alliances shifting rapidly, the EU must work together and embrace its role as both a stabilizing force and a champion of the ocean. Delivering on the High Seas Treaty — through swift ratification, diligent preparation for implementation, and the establishment of a robust governance framework — will be a defining moment for the EU. It is a test of its credibility, leadership, and vision for the future.
The world is watching. The ocean is waiting. And the clock is ticking.
Pascal Lamy is the Vice-President of Europe Jacques Delors and former Director-General of the WTO. Geneviève Pons is the Vice-President and Director General of Europe Jacques Delors and a leading advocate for ocean conservation.
IPS UN Bureau
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