idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
From 9 to 13 June, Nice will become a hotspot for international politics and marine science. At the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC-3) representatives of UN member states, financial institutions, non-governmental organisations, companies, indigenous communities, civil society stakeholders and, of course, marine researchers and ocean experts from all over the world will meet.
Scientists from the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) in Bremen are also taking part in the high-profile conference and participating in events on the research vessel METEOR and in the preceding scientific conference ‘One Ocean Science Congress’. The RV METEOR is being provided by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) as a German contribution and a platform for dialogue and exchange.
From 9 to 12 June 2025, around 30 side events will take place on board the RV METEOR in the Nice marina, including scientific panel discussions, receptions and multimedia formats. The motto for the four days is ‘Aboard METEOR: from ocean science to ocean action’. An overview of ZMT's participation can be found under the link at the end of the press release.
+++ New York, Lisbon and now Nice +++
Following the first two UN Ocean Conferences in New York (2017) and Lisbon (2022) and ten years after the conclusion of the Paris Climate Agreement, France and Costa Rica are organising UNOC-3 in Nice this year.
One aim of the five-day conference is to adopt a joint ‘Nice Ocean Action Plan’ in Nice and thus achieve progress in the protection of the world's oceans comparable to that made in 2015 with the Paris Agreement with view to climate protection.
Expectations for the conference are high, not only because the oceans are under increasing pressure as a result from climate change, pollution and overfishing, but also because fundamental geopolitical changes are currently coming to light in the field of marine science.
+++ This is what ZMT researchers participating in UNOC-3 say +++
Professor Raimund Bleischwitz, Scientific Director of ZMT: “This year's UNOC-3 is particularly important because the ocean plays a vital role in climate protection and also because the current US administration is irresponsibly withdrawing from international cooperation. I hope that this World Ocean Conference will send a clear signal for joint action: for the protection of more than 30% of the oceans, a rapid end to plastic waste, but also international financing for a sustainable blue circular economy.”
Leonie Dziomba, doctoral candidate at ZMT: “With its motto ‘Accelerating action and mobilising all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean’, UNOC-3 is sending an important signal: We can only effectively protect the oceans if all relevant actors are involved and act together. I hope that the conference will produce a joint, concrete roadmap – the ‘Nice Ocean Action Plan’ – despite the expected differences. Especially in times of increasing scientific scepticism and the strengthening of anti-democratic forces, this is an important sign of evidence-based action and international cooperation.”
Professor Martin Zimmer, mangrove ecologist at ZMT: “We can only counter the global crises of our time – pollution (of the oceans), loss of biodiversity and climate change – at an international and global level. The science is clear: The world's oceans and coasts must and will play a central role in our efforts. If we do not capitalise on the momentum of UNOC-3, we will miss what is probably one of the last opportunities to leave a healthy ocean and healthy coastal ecosystems for future generations, which we need to ensure the well-being of humanity.”
Rebecca Lahl, Head of the Office for Knowledge Exchange at ZMT: “The UN Ocean Conference is more than a political meeting. It is a necessary platform to share responsibility for the state of the oceans globally and to act together with international solidarity, sustainable financing and targeted capacity development. Countries of the Global South in particular, which are often the hardest hit, must be better supported through knowledge exchange, fostering technology and fair partnerships on an equal footing. I expect from UNOC-3 to take concrete measures, clear responsibilities and a genuine political will to work together – for healthy oceans and a fairer future.”
------------------------------------
If you are interested in talking to our researchers at UNOC-3 you can contact us at press@leibniz-zmt.de.
https://www.leibniz-zmt.de/en/participation-nice-conferences-2025 Overview of ZMT participation in Nice
https://event.ptj.de/unoc-2025-meteor-sideevents The complete programme on the FS METEOR
https://one-ocean-science-2025.org/ Website One Ocean Science Congress
https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/ocean2025 Website UNOC-3
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists, Scientists and scholars, Students, Teachers and pupils, all interested persons
Environment / ecology, Oceanology / climate
transregional, national
Scientific conferences, Transfer of Science or Research
English
You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.
You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).
Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.
You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).
If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).
