The UN Ocean Conference in Nice and the ratifications of the BBNJ Agreement

The third United Nations Ocean Conference met in Nice from 9 to 13 June. Fifty-five heads of state and government attended, with about 15,000 participants and more than 450 side events.[1] The Conference adopted a political declaration, "Our ocean, our future: united for urgent action", which more than 170 countries endorsed. The declaration and the voluntary commitments registered during the week together form the Nice Ocean Action Plan.[1] The adoption was not unanimous in spirit. Russia asked to be dissociated from paragraph 26, which calls for the swift entry into force of the Agreement on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, and Venezuela recalled that it is not a party to the Convention on the Law of the Sea.[2] We belong to the generation that will live with the ocean the Conference described. Our reading is that Nice produced one measurable result, the count of ratifications, and many promises that need a tracker.

Ten short of sixty

The Agreement on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction was adopted on 19 June 2023 and opened for signature on 20 September 2023. Article 68 provides that it "shall enter into force 120 days after" the deposit of the sixtieth instrument of ratification.[3] During the Conference 19 States deposited their instruments and 20 more signed. The totals at the close were 136 signatures and 50 ratifications, including the European Union. Ten more ratifications are needed.[1] The period for signature closes on 20 September 2025.[3] The Union deposited its own instrument in New York on 28 May, on the same day as Cyprus, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Portugal and Slovenia. France and Spain had ratified earlier in the year.[4] The Commission also announced a Global Ocean Programme of 40 million euros to support ratification and implementation by partner countries.[5]

The arithmetic matters for the calendar. The sixtieth deposit starts a 120-day clock. Only after that clock runs can the first Conference of the Parties be convened and the first marine protected areas in the high seas be proposed under the Agreement. Each month lost before the sixtieth instrument is a month lost for the rules on area-based management, environmental impact assessment and the sharing of benefits from marine genetic resources that our generation will inherit. Under-Secretary-General Li Junhua said at the close that pledges "must be rigorously implemented, tracked, and scaled".[1] We take the sentence literally and apply it first to the ratification count.

Money, mining and plastics

The finance figures are large and still small against the need. The Blue Economy and Finance Forum, held before the Conference, committed 8.7 billion euros over five years, of which 1 billion euros is deployed or investment-ready in 2025. The European Investment Bank added 15 billion euros over three years for water resources in the Union.[2] The Union tabled more than 50 voluntary commitments worth nearly 1 billion euros, about one third of it for science and innovation, with projects in developing countries.[5] The Earth Negotiations Bulletin puts these sums against an estimated need of 175 billion dollars a year and calls the outcome hopeful and incomplete.[2] New protected areas were announced. French Polynesia pledged to turn its whole exclusive economic zone, about 5 million square kilometres, into the largest marine protected area in the world, and Spain committed to five new areas that would protect 25 per cent of its marine territory. Germany announced a 100 million euro programme to clear legacy munitions from the sea.[1]

Deep-sea mining was the political fault line of the week. The group of States calling for a moratorium or a precautionary pause grew from a handful at the Lisbon Conference in 2022 to 37 at Nice. Emmanuel Macron said that "the Ocean is not for sale", and António Guterres warned that the deep seabed must not become a lawless frontier.[2] The warning has an address. On 24 April President Trump signed Executive Order 14285, which directs the Secretary of Commerce to "expedite the process for reviewing and issuing seabed mineral exploration licenses" in areas beyond national jurisdiction under a domestic statute, outside the International Seabed Authority.[6] The declaration does not settle this question. Several delegations preferred to let the Authority finish its regulations, and the moratorium remains the position of a coalition.[2] On plastics, the declaration reaffirms the commitment to a legally binding instrument covering the full life cycle of plastics.[2]

What the Union should do before September

First, every Member State that has not yet deposited its instrument of ratification should do so before the General Assembly opens in September, so that the sixtieth instrument is European and the 120-day clock starts in 2025.[3]

Second, the Council should adopt a common position on deep-sea mining before the next session of the International Seabed Authority, so that the Union speaks with the 37 and does not leave the moratorium to France and Spain acting alone.[2]

Third, the Commission should publish a public tracker of its 50 Nice commitments, with the amount, the partner country and the disbursement date of each, and update it every six months. A commitment without a date is the kind of pledge Li Junhua warned against.[5]

Fourth, the Global Ocean Programme should reserve part of its 40 million euros for the scientific and technical body that the Agreement will create, with places for early-career researchers from developing coastal States. The first Conference of the Parties would then start with the people who will apply the treaty for the next forty years.[5]