Locunity/United Nations·Intergovernmental Body

The UN Ocean Conference (UNOC) is the flagship UN summit dedicated to implementing Sustainable Development Goal 14 — conserving and sustainably using the ocean, seas, and marine resources — convened roughly every three years and drawing heads of state, ministers, scientists, NGOs, and philanthropies for a week of plenaries, action panels, and high-profile voluntary commitments. Following editions in New York (2017, co-hosted by Fiji and Sweden) and Lisbon (2022, Kenya and Portugal), the third conference, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica in Nice in June 2025, produced the Nice Ocean Action Plan — a political declaration paired with voluntary commitments that is not legally binding but carries international commitment weight — alongside marquee announcements including French Polynesia's pledge to create the world's largest marine protected area covering its entire exclusive economic zone and a first-of-its-kind Coral Bond launched by Indonesia and the World Bank. UNOC3's signature achievement was accelerating the High Seas Treaty (BBNJ): 19 countries ratified during the conference, and the agreement formally entered into force on January 17, 2026, establishing the first global framework for conserving marine biodiversity in the two-thirds of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction, with the first BBNJ Conference of the Parties to be convened by January 2027. The fourth UN Ocean Conference is set for the Republic of Korea in June 2028, co-hosted by Chile and Korea — a stock-taking moment two years ahead of SDG 14's 2030 deadline, and the anchor event for the next cycle of ocean-policy monitoring.