EU commits to ocean action and presents European Ocean Pact at the third UN Ocean Conference

At the third UN Ocean Conference in Nice, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is presenting the European Ocean Pact, a landmark initiative aimed at safeguarding the long-term health of the world’s ocean. She is also showcasing all the EU commitments for the ocean.

International cooperation and ocean diplomacy in the European Ocean Pact

The ocean faces many challenges, including climate change, pollution, and overexploitation of marine resources, which require collective and urgent action. 

The European Ocean Pact serves as both a commitment and a call to action, fostering stronger transnational cooperation and innovative ocean governance to ensure the long-term health of our ocean and seas.

Turning commitments into actions 

The EU is backing its words with concrete deliverables, with a series of targeted actions to support the implementation of key international agreements.

The EU, joined by several Member States, has formally ratified the landmark Treaty of the  High Seas to protect the ocean (BBNJ Agreement) on 28 May in New York, ahead of today’s conference. 

The EU is also revitalising the High-Ambition Coalition to mobilise global support for the treaty's implementation, while advancing the legislative work to transpose the BBNJ Agreement into EU law.

The EU is launching a €40 million Global Ocean Programme to support partner countries in ratifying and implementing the BBNJ Agreement and is establishing a strong science-policy interface through the International Platform on Ocean Sustainability (IPOS), with the EU allocating nearly €1 million to support its work.

In addition, the EU is tabling more than 50 voluntary commitments, worth nearly € 1 billion. These commitments go beyond the European continent, with concrete projects in developing countries for example. Scaling up ocean action should be based on science and innovation. This is why around one third of the financial commitments the EU is pledging in Nice are about science and innovation.

The power of ocean knowledge  

The EU’s ambition is to improve our knowledge on the ocean and make this knowledge readily available to citizens, entrepreneurs, scientists and policy-makers. This will help design the most effective ways to restore marine and coastal habitats, support a sustainable blue economy, mitigate and adapt to climate change.

As part of the European Ocean Pact, the EU will prepare an Ocean Observation initiative and is developing a digital representation of the ocean, the European Digital Twin of the Ocean. 

The European digital Ocean Pavilion at Nice’s Palais des Expositions ('The Whale') presents the EU’s latest innovations for ocean observation, including a prototype of the Digital Twin of the Ocean. The Pavilion highlights the integration of digital technologies, including satellite and in situ observations, artificial intelligence, and cutting-edge modelling, to provide a dynamic view of the ocean’s past, present, and future. 

More information

European Ocean Pact

The EU at the UN Our Ocean Conference