The Arctic Sunrise was on a six-week expedition around the Galápagos Islands with scientists from the Jocotoco Conservation Foundation, the Charles Darwin Foundation, the Galápagos Science Center, MigraMar, and Galápagos park rangers. The expedition showcased the power of marine protection by documenting the success of the Galápagos Marine Reserve through the incredible wildlife and habitats of the sea near the Galápagos. Data collected during the expedition helped to make the case for a new high seas protected area.
Washington, D.C. (May 22, 2025)—Today, the third and reportedly final draft of the political declaration for the upcoming UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France, was released. The draft declaration comes just weeks after the Trump Administration took the highly controversial step of attempting to unilaterally launch deep sea mining in international waters, bypassing the framework being established by the governing body, the International Seabed Authority, and possibly violating provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The United States is not a party to the Convention but has signed the Implementing Agreement and has received several benefits under the Convention, including the expansion of its continental shelf.
The declaration was expected to reflect growing global momentum for ocean protection and chart a path toward achieving earlier stated ambitions. Instead, the current draft fails to include the key measures scientists have said are needed to restore marine ecosystems, ensure the recovery from decades of abuse, and build resilience to climate change. Among other things, the latest text removes earlier language that emphasized the importance of a precautionary approach to seabed mining—a key safeguard long championed by scientists, Indigenous leaders, and civil society as the bare minimum standard for responsible ocean governance.
John Hocevar, Greenpeace USA Oceans Campaign Director, said: “Our planet, which is mostly covered with ocean, is reeling from the impacts of climate change, industrial fishing, and plastic pollution. But instead of taking bold, unified action to protect our ocean, we’re seeing dangerous backpedalling. Governments must stop allowing a handful of rogue nations to prevent the kinds of actions that science requires and justice demands.
“As the Trump Administration and a handful of billionaires push to launch the destructive deep-sea mining industry in our last untouched wilderness, the world must respond with courage, not compromise. Governments must condemn this unilateral attempt to seize a global commons, and support a global moratorium on deep sea mining.”
With the deep sea under threat and international cooperation hanging in the balance, Greenpeace and allied organizations are calling on governments to reject this weakened declaration and demand meaningful, science-based protections that reflect the true urgency of the ocean crisis.
Megan Randles, UNOC Head of Delegation, Greenpeace International, said: “We’re shocked after all the fine words from the organisers of this conference to find a declaration text that lacks the ambition needed to protect the oceans. The UN Ocean Conference was supposed to be the moment when governments turned the tide and showcased genuine progress. Instead, we are handed a weak political declaration with glaring omissions and weak language.
“The current text makes clear governments once again aren’t serious about protecting the oceans, and are satisfied to say fine words but not deliver real change at sea. It also fails to recognise the rights and leadership of coastal communities and Indigenous Peoples, who are on the frontlines of ocean stewardship. Unless this Declaration is drastically improved, the UN Ocean Conference will become a meaningless talking shop.”
The glaring omissions or regressions from earlier draft texts are:
- Pitifully weak language on deep sea mining, with no reference to a moratorium on this dangerous industry, and the removal of any reference to applying the precautionary principle, which appeared in early drafts.
- The lack of any urgency on the Global Ocean Treaty ratification, or reflection that the governmental self-set deadline to reach 60 ratifications by this Conference is set to be missed.
- Failure to recognise that the Global Ocean Treaty is fundamental to deliver on the 30 by 30 target agreed under the Convention on Biological Diversity, as the Global Ocean Treaty is the only legal tool that can deliver this universally agreed and binding UN target on the high seas, which make up ⅔ of the world’s ocean.
- The absence of a clear reference to the need to reduce plastic production. While there is a brief mention in the text on the development of an internationally binding instrument on plastic, it makes no mention of the need to reduce production.
- No mention of key issues such as addressing labor and human rights abuses in distant water fishing fleets or ensuring the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems from the impact of destructive fishing practices – crucial issues that are fundamental to global marine conservation.
- The removal of a “human rights-based” approach to protecting the oceans, which undermines accountability in ocean governance. Otherwise, there is no guarantee that policies will protect the rights of those most dependent on — and essential to—ocean stewardship. This weakens the foundation for just, inclusive, and effective marine protection and must be urgently addressed.
- No concrete commitments to additional financial resources.
As of today, 21 countries have ratified the Global Ocean Treaty, and 33 countries support a moratorium on deep sea mining.
Media contacts:
- Tanya Brooks, Senior Communications Specialist at Greenpeace USA, [email protected] (EST)
Notes for editors:
The draft political declaration is available upon request.
A Greenpeace delegation will attend the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, with spokespeople in English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai.
[1] The Zero Draft of the Political Declaration “emphasized the importance of a precautionary approach” in relation to seabed mining. The reference has been deleted from the final draft.
[2] The Treaty will only enter into force 120 days after 60 countries have ratified it.
The UN Secretary-General is required to convene the first meeting of the COP to the Agreement no later than one year after its entry into force.
France, the co-host organizer of the UN Ocean Conference, had targeted for the Global Ocean Treaty to enter into force by the conference. It seems this target is now likely to be missed.
[3] Paragraph 21 of the Zero Draft of the Political Declaration stated, “We recognise the important role the Agreement will play in achieving 30×30.” That reference has been removed from the final draft.
[4] The final version of the Political Declaration deletes critical mentions of the urgency of addressing plastics pollution or its human health impacts, which were present in earlier drafts.
[5] Paragraph 2 of the second version of the Draft Political Declaration stated, “We must act with urgency to face this challenge with bold, ambitious, human rights-based, just and transformative action.” The reference to human-rights-based actions has been removed.
