World leaders asked to save oceans from pollution and overfishing

June 12, 2025 2

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking at the third United Nations Ocean Conference, a high-level summit co-chaired by France and Costa Rica, is currently underway in Nice, France.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has issued a strong warning about the state of the world’s oceans, telling global leaders that greed, overexploitation, and inaction are pushing marine ecosystems to the brink of collapse.

Speaking at the opening of the third United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, Guterres called on governments to take bold and immediate action to confront the industries and interests fueling marine destruction. The high-level summit is co-chaired by France and Costa Rica and is focused on mobilising political support for ocean conservation, sustainable use, and protection of high seas biodiversity.

“The ocean is under assault from all sides — overfishing, plastic pollution, coastal development, and the impacts of climate change,” Guterres said. “Powerful interests are profiting from destruction. Greed is quite literally sinking our future.”

According to the UN, more than 60 percent of marine ecosystems are either degraded or being used unsustainably. The planet’s oceans, which absorb about 90 percent of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions, are warming rapidly, leading to widespread coral bleaching, sea-level rise, and reduced fish stocks.

Plastic pollution is also increasing. An estimated 12 million tonnes of plastic waste enter the oceans each year, killing marine life and contaminating food chains.

The conference is concentrating on the ratification of the UN High Seas Treaty, a global agreement adopted in 2023 to govern the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in international waters. The treaty requires 60 ratifications to come into force. As of this week, 55 countries have signed on, raising hopes it could take effect by early 2026.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chávez, co-hosts of the summit, echoed Guterres’ call for urgent action. Macron pushed for a moratorium on deep-sea mining, describing the ocean floor as “a new frontier that must not become the next Wild West.”

The conference is also promoting the global “30×30” target, a pledge to protect at least 30 percent of the world’s oceans by 2030. Currently, only about 2.7 percent of marine areas are effectively protected.

French President Emmanuel Macron

Guterres stressed the importance of increasing investment in marine protection, adding that while the ocean economy is valued in the trillions, less than 1 percent of global philanthropic funding currently goes to ocean conservation.

“To truly protect the ocean, we must move from words to action, from promises to implementation — and from plunder to preservation,” he said.

A final declaration outlining voluntary commitments, financial pledges, and policy pathways is expected at the close of the summit later this week. The outcomes will feed into discussions at COP30 and other upcoming international environmental meetings.

The post World leaders asked to save oceans from pollution and overfishing first appeared on Future Media News.

The post World leaders asked to save oceans from pollution and overfishing appeared first on Future Media News.