Our new publication, Advancing the Protection Principle, published in Cali on the occasion of the Biodiversity COP, outlines key proposals to elevate ocean conservation through the Protection Principle at the upcoming Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France, in June 2025.
The Protection Principle calls for ocean protection to become the norm, not the exception, ensuring that the burden of proof is placed on extractive and polluting industries, so that the preservation and restoration of ocean health and ecosystems take precedence over exploitation.
The paper calls for the Nice Ocean Action Plan in June 2025 to endorse the Protection Principle as an aspirational goal.
With this in mind, we propose that the Nice Ocean Action Plan agrees to form an ad-hoc group to draft modalities and options report and roadmap before the Fourth UN Ocean Conference in 2028.
Why Now?
The ocean’s role as the “engine room” of the global climate system is irrefutable. It absorbs 90% of the excess heat generated by human activities and around 25% of carbon dioxide emissions, mitigating climate impacts. However, this comes at a high cost, as the ocean faces unprecedented warming, acidification, and biodiversity loss.
The report outlines critical recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders, including the endorsement of the Protection Principle as an aspirational goal in Nice, the elimination of harmful fisheries and other environmentally harmful subsidies, a moratorium on deep-sea mining and deep-sea trawling, and protection of the Southern Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. These ambitious actions aim to address effectively interconnected environmental crises—climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
In Nice, Supporting the Protection Principle for Ocean Rights and Justice
In Nice, governments should endorse the Protection Principle to transform how we manage our shared ocean biodiversity, rethinking approaches to access rights, responsibilities, and quotas, especially as climate change intensifies pressures on marine ecosystems. This new framework aligns with the emerging notion of Ocean Rights and addresses the underlying principles of ocean justice, which call for equitable and sustainable use of ocean resources, particularly for Indigenous Peoples and vulnerable coastal communities who rely on the ocean for their livelihoods and cultural heritage.
Time for the ocean is running out. If governments do not seize the opportunity in Nice to reverse the tide, a tsunami of impacts—rising seas, dying reefs, and collapsing fisheries—will soon reach our shores.
Official Launch at CBD COP16
Advancing the Protection Principle will be launched during the CBD COP16 in Cali, Colombia, on 30 October. Join us at an event at the Chile Pavilion at 15h00 COT for an engaging discussion on how the Protection Principle can reshape ocean protection and policy.
