Reflections from the third UN Ocean Conference in Nice; the biggest ocean conference in history.
Earlier this month, world leaders, experts and community representatives gathered in Nice for the third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) to address the critical condition of the ocean and how to maximise the solutions it offers.
The scientific work kicked off early with the One Ocean Science Congress (OSCC), a UNOC3 Special Event organised to provide crucial scientific input into UNOC3. The programme packed with over 500 presentations and 620 posters across then themes: climate, biodiversity, illegal fishing, genetic resources, pollution, food, maritime transport, indigenous knowledge, the deep sea and science itself.
Gail Fordham, Convex Seascape Survey Science Programme Manager joined ten other Convex Seascape Survey team members at the congress, to champion offshore sediments as an important but often overlooked blue carbon store. Professor Callum Roberts gave an energising presentation which summarised the multidisciplinary and varied research we’re carrying out, while Dr Ciaran McLaverty presented an in-depth look at his work mapping the global history of bottom trawling and disturbance to continental shelf systems. The team also displayed four research posters in the Blue Zone.
At the invitation of Professor Bill Austin, we joined the townhall session Blue Carbon in the Global Ocean, to discuss the opportunities and challenges of blue carbon. Professor Callum Roberts, and our project partner Professor Carlos Duarte (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) did a brilliant job of sharing the current state of knowledge on emerging blue carbon habitats, namely marine sediments and macroalgae, and highlighting the significant role they could play for future climate mitigation.
To guide and accelerate action at the policy level, the OOSC scientific committee summarised the conference in a series of science-based recommendations for ocean recovery, as well as sharing a manifesto ‘Science for Ocean Action’ signed by OOSC delegates. Both called for decisive action and a stronger role for science in shaping ocean policy.
UNOC3 followed hot on the heels of OOSC, attended by our Chief Scientist, Professor Callum Roberts, Convex Seascape Survey Programme Manager, Jade Rolph, and Rachel Delhaise from the Convex Group. With over 15,000 participants, UNOC3 was the biggest ocean conference in history and the Convex Seascape Survey team continued to raise the profile of the Survey and build and renew connections within the blue carbon community.
Earlier in the week, Rachel Delhaise and Prof Callum Roberts joined a panel convened by the Economist: Mobilising Investment for Ocean Carbon Solutions where they shared the unique public, private, and not-for-profit, partnership at the heart of the Survey, which provides an inspiring example to others, as well as highlighting how the open-source data from this type of research could both inform ocean regeneration and underpin the growth of blue finance.
Later in the week, we also hosted an evening event to discuss how finance and robust science can unlock ocean protection. Influential leaders from the insurance, finance, ocean policy and science sectors considered how investors could embrace nature as an asset class, delved into the ways that investment firms might be helped into the ocean investment space and debated whether the insurance industry could monitor and influence the behaviour of fishing fleets.
Over the week, we were fortunate to join many interesting events covering topics as diverse as marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR), ocean science diplomacy and equitable ocean management. However, a particular favourite, was Mud Matters: Tapping the Ocean Floor for Climate Solutions convened by BUND, Germany. It was exciting to see a similar and complimentary sediment carbon project sharing their findings to date and their strategy for influencing policy.
On the broader stage, the conference outcomes were positive but perhaps not far-reaching enough. Steve Reed, UK Environment Secretary, announced a wider ban on bottom trawling in the UK’s protected areas, President Moetai Brotherson of French Polynesia announced the creation of the world’s largest MPA, and more countries joined the call for a moratorium on deep sea mining. However, despite a flurry of ratifications, the high seas treaty reached a total count of 50, falling short of the 60 needed to bring the treaty into force. Buoyed by the energy and enthusiasm of the conference, it is now the job of all the delegates to return to their respective countries, colleagues, and projects, to push forward ocean protection and regeneration.
