Republic of Costa Rica
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship
Dear Friends of the Ocean community,
The Third UN Ocean Conference, which will take place in Nice in June 2025, is chaired jointly by the governments of France and Costa Rica. This follows the first and second UN Ocean Conferences, respectively held in New York in June 2017 and in Lisbon in June 2022.
Building on the outcomes of the previous editions, the governments of France and Costa Rica are very much aware that:
- The third conference must offer transformative action through a transformative experience in Nice. It should provide the solutions the ocean needs, to truly address and resolve key challenges we are facing.
- Ocean science and the funding of SDG14 will be the two legs on which we propose the UNOC to stand and walk towards a “Summit of Ocean Action”.
- For this to happen, the participation of civil society organizations, including advocacy NGOs, is key. Without you, it won’t happen.
For this reason, we have asked two veteran ocean advocates, Rémi Parmentier (The Varda Group) and Loreley Picourt (Ocean & Climate Platform) to help us and facilitate the inputs and participation of NGOs on the road to Nice. Loreley and Rémi do not need much introduction; they have been working for many years with NGOs at the crossroads of civic action and policy. We are grateful for their commitment to help us make the third UN Ocean Conference a transformative success.
The third Conference will be preceded by a stakeholder meeting in Costa Rica in June 2024, also with NGO participation. We thus invite you to work with Loreley and Rémi right away, starting with responding to the consultation of civil society.
We thank you in advance for your commitment and look forward to your inputs.
Respectfully,
Ambassador Olivier Poivre d’Arvor
Special Envoy of the President of France for the UN Ocean Conference
France
Ambassador Gina Guillen Grillo
Director General of External Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship
Costa Rica
A call to all the voices of the ocean
The United Nations Ocean Conferences are crucial moments for civil society to stand up together and share their concerns and visions for the future of the ocean. Loreley Picourt (Executive Director, Ocean & Climate Platform) and Rémi Parmentier (The Varda Group; Coordinator, Let’s Be Nice to the Ocean) have been mandated by the French and Costa Rican Governments to mobilise civil society for the preparation of the 3rd UN Ocean Conference. And we want to hear your voices!
To do so, a global consultation was launched in April 2023 until July 2023. All civil society organisations working on ocean issues around the world were invited to share feedback and expectations for the upcoming Conference.
About the United Nations Ocean Conference
The 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference will be hosted by the city of Nice, France from 9 to 13 June 2025.
More information
Contributors were asked to answer the 5 following questions:
- Based on your experience of previous UN Ocean Conferences, what would you replicate and what would you do differently? As NGOs but also if you were the conference organisers.
- As NGOs, how do you want to position yourselves, and how do you want to be remembered for your participation at the 3rd UN Ocean conference?
- Which are your [3 to 5] key deliverables for the 3rd UN Ocean Conference (e.g. in terms of public policy, governance, finance, science, innovation)?
- As ocean advocates, where do you want to bring governments and the private sector, and how do you propose to bring them on board to uplift SDG14?
- Do you think the 3rd UN Ocean Conference should provide an opportunity to identify action beyond SDG 14, five years before 2030?
This consultation was guided by the principles of transparency and inclusiveness.
Discover the outcomes in the documents below:
SYNTHESIS REPORT
Click below
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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Co-facilitated by:
Take part in Let's Be Nice to the Ocean
The next United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) will take place in June 2025 in Nice, France, leaving less than 2 years to ensure it concludes with a transformative, positive and actionable outcome for the ocean, its ecosystems and marine biodiversity. In order to support these efforts, The Varda Group launches “Let’s Be Nice to the Ocean”, in cooperation with the Ocean & Climate Platform and in partnership with TBA21-Academy, Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy, the Tara Ocean Foundation, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, MedPAN and Ocean Born Foundation. This initiative, building on the paper ‘Let’s be Nice to the Ocean: Thinking Outside the Box before the Third UN Ocean Conference’, examines possibilities to make ocean protection the norm rather than the exception, and opens space for collective reflection.
Beyond the paper, “Let’s be Nice to the Ocean” will also evolve as a digital platform – a place for collective reflection. Indeed, civil society organisations are invited to send their new and actionable ideas and proposals for the Nice Conference to #BeNiceToTheOcean by email to letsbenicetotheocean@gmail.com.
For more information, read our article or visit https://letsbenicetotheocean.org/