UNEP at the 2025 UN Ocean Conference

Representatives from UNEP will be participating in the following events during the UN Ocean Conference.

Time zone: CEST

📅 5 June | 🕒 12:45–13:45 hrs | 📍Room 8, Port Lympia, Nice
One Ocean Science Conference 2025: Science to support the BBNJ Agreement

This session aims to highlight the science required for the successful implementation of the BBNJ Agreement and to share experiences from stakeholders regarding scientific knowledge gaps and marine technology challenges at both, national and regional levels. 

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📅 7 June | 🕒 09:30–11:00 hrs | 📍Salle des Princes, Monaco’s Forum Grimaldi
Blue Economy and Finance Forum: Investing for Ocean Health, Preservation and Resilience 

This panel will bring together experts from the financial sector, international organisations, and committed businesses to discuss innovative solutions, financial instruments, and pioneering initiatives. It will showcase concrete and scalable local projects and financial models that mobilise capital for ocean protection and accelerate the preservation of marine ecosystems. 

It will explore innovative financing solutions to support cross-boundary conservation, biodiversity regeneration, scientific research, and economic prosperity at national, international and regional levels, and ways to bridge the funding gap for cross-border ocean conservation. 

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📅 7 June | 🕒 11:30–13:00 hrs | 📍Bosio, Monaco’s Forum Grimadli
Blue Economy and Finance Forum: Coral Reef Positive Finance: Protecting Earth’s Climate Refugia 

Hosted by the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR), this high-level event brings together investors, financial institutions, entrepreneurs, governments, and UN agencies to explore how capital can be mobilized for reef-positive enterprises and solutions. Featuring case studies from coral-dependent regions such as Sri Lanka, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Brazil, the event will spotlight scalable, nature-based solutions across sectors like waste management, sustainable agriculture, ecotourism, and fisheries. 

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📅 7 June | 🕒 16:30–18:00 hrs | 📍Bosio, Monaco’s Forum Grimadli
Blue Economy and Finance Forum: One Ocean Finance Facility: Financing a Regenerative & Sustainable Blue Economy

This high-level dialogue will convene public, private, and civil society actors to explore how innovative financial mechanisms can help close the estimated $175 billion annual SDG 14 finance gap while unlocking the full potential of the ocean as a global asset. The event will facilitate a collaborative dialogue toward the conceptualization of a new global financing platform—referred to as the One Ocean Finance. This high-level session offers a powerful opportunity for the public and private sector to collaborate toward a joint vision for the future of ocean health —where innovation, economic resilience, and sustainability thrive together. 

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📅 7 June | 🕒 16:30–18:00 hrs | 📍Genevoix 1
Blue Economy and Finance Forum: From Vision to Investment: Financing the Sustainable Ocean Economy - Launch of the Ocean Panel Finance Working Paper and the Ocean Investment Protocol

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📅 7 June | 🕒 16:30–18:00 hrs | 📍Poulenc
Blue Economy and Finance Forum: Tackling Plastic Pollution and promoting circularity with finance

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📅 8 June | 🕒 11:00–12:30 hrs | 📍Salle des Princes, Monaco’s Forum Grimaldi
Blue Economy and Finance Forum: Ensuring Sustainable Ocean Governance and Finance  

This session will explore the concrete solutions being developed and already implemented that have the potential to bridge the Ocean funding gap at a global level, supporting initiatives that can have a transformative impact on the blue economy. Whether through new financial mechanisms to unlock capital at scale, aligning financing frameworks with the SDGs, risk assessment and mitigation, protecting marine areas, shifting to sustainable practices, or other approaches, all these initiatives pave the way for a more efficient and coordinated global architecture for the deployment of Ocean finance. 

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📅 9 June | 🕒 09:00–13:00 hrs | 📍Main Plenary, Blue Zone
Opening Segment of the UN Ocean Conference

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📅 9 June | 🕒 10:00–13:00 hrs | 📍Salle de la table Ronde Action Pour L’Ocean 
Conserving, Sustainably Managing and Restoring Marine and Coastal Ecosystems including Deep-Sea Ecosystems

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📅 9 June | 🕒 12:15–13:30 hrs | 📍Room 1, Blue Zone
Integrated Solutions for Sustainable Ocean Economies: Tough Questions Answered!

This event will interrogate the complex geopolitical, trade, financial and capacity challenges faced by countries undertaking the transition to a sustainable ocean economy; and offer recommendations.

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📅 9 June | 🕒 12:15–13:30 hrs | 📍La Baleine, Green Zone
Deltas of the World

This summit will provide an opportunity to highlight the issues specific to deltas, and to promote the dissemination of innovative initiatives and solutions. This high-level event will be co-chaired by the Prime Minister of Vietnam and the President of the Republic of Iraq, whose deltas are particularly affected by the consequences of climate change: while the Mekong Delta is facing rising sea levels and could lose 50% of its surface area by 2100, the Tigris and Euphrates Delta is facing increasing droughts and increasing salinization of its waters.

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📅 9 June | 🕒 12:15–13:30 hrs | 📍Room 5, Blue Zone
Blue Tourism: Advancing Sustainable and Resilient Ocean Economies for People and Planet

The event explores how circular solutions and climate action can transform ocean tourism and enhance resilience by cutting pollution, reducing emissions, and protecting vital carbon sinks. 

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📅 9 June | 🕒 14:00–15:00 hrs | 📍Palais des Expositions
Scaling Collective Action for 30x30: The East Asian Seas Regional Collaborative Network of MPAs (part 1)

This official side event highlights the Regional Collaborative Network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for the East Asian Seas as a platform for joint action, knowledge exchange, and capacity building to accelerate progress toward SDG14 and 30x30.

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📅 9 June | 🕒 14:00–15:15 hrs |📍Room 4, Blue Zone
Accelerating Partnerships and Action for Effective and Equitable Ocean Protection - the ocean pathway to 30x30

This side event will focus on the need to better understand the mechanisms required to achieve the 30x30 ambition, including accelerating actions in national waters, areas beyond national jurisdiction, and integrated area-based management tools for inclusive marine conservation.

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📅 9 June | 🕒 15:00–18:00 hrs | 📍Salle de la table Ronde Action Pour L’Ocean 
Increasing Ocean Related Scientific Cooperation, Knowledge, Capacity Building, Marine Technology, Education to Strengthen the Science Policy Interface for Ocean Health

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📅 9 June | 🕒 20:00–22:00 hrs | 📍Jardin Albert 1er, 2-16 Av. De Verdun 
ReefLine Exhibition

A monumental public art installation and hybrid reef by Carlos Betancourt and Alberto Latorre

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📅 10 June | 🕒 08:45–10:00 hrs 📍Room 4, Blue Zone
Navigating the Path to a Sustainable Blue Economy Across the World: From Planning to Practice while Tracking Benefits for People and Planet

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📅 10 June | 🕒 10:00–11:15 hrs | 📍Salle de la table Ronde Action Pour L’Ocean 
Mobilizing Finance for Ocean Actions in Support of SDG 14

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📅 10 June | 🕒 10:30–11:45 hrs | 📍Room 2, Blue Zone
Environment Ministers Meeting of the Barcelona Convention: celebrating 50 years of UNEP/MAP and 30 years of Post-Rio Barcelona Convention

High-level event marking 50 years of UNEP/MAP and 30 years of the post-Rio Barcelona Convention, with panel discussions on MAP's success stories and on challenges with a focus on plastic pollution.

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📅 10 June | 🕒 13:00–14:30 hrs | 📍La Baleine
Informal Ministerial event on the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution

This will be a closed, invite-only event.

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📅 10 June | 🕒 15:00–18:00 hrs | 📍Salle de la table Ronde Action Pour L’Ocean 
Preventing and Significantly Reducing Marine Pollution of All Kinds, in Particular from Land-based Activities

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📅 10 June | 🕒 18:30–20:00 hrs | 📍Hotel Le Saint Paul - 29 Bd Franck Pilatte, 06300 Nice, France
Collaborate to accelerate – the contribution of the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans to the ratification and implementation of the BBNJ Agreement

Recognizing that ocean conservation requires connectivity at a global scale, this event will identify opportunities and share best practices to enhance implementation of the BBNJ Agreement. 

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📅 11 June | 🕒 07:30–08:00 hrs 
Coral Reefs and People: Honouring Culture and Advancing Conservation Action for the Pacific Islands

Attendance is by invitation only. The breakfast will pre-launch the GCRMN’s report on the status of Pacific coral reefs and showcase GFCR-supported Pacific projects. The session will blend storytelling, ceremony, and solution-sharing. 

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📅 11 June | 🕒 08:30–18:30 hrs | 📍Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nice
Twenty-fourth Global Meeting of the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans (RSCAPs)

The meeting is expected to provide opportunities for exchange of views and strengthening partnerships to deliver an enhanced ocean governance agenda. In this respect, a joint session of regional seas and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) will be organized under the Sustainable Ocean Initiative (SOI) Global Dialogue together with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

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📅 11 June | 🕒 10:30–11:45 hrs | 📍Room 1, Blue Zone
Building ambition to address plastic pollution

The high-level side event will discuss national activities, expectations for support for early actions, and enabling conditions to prepare for implementation of the prospective global plastics agreement.

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📅 12 June | 🕒 08:45–10:00 hrs | 📍Room 1, Blue Zone 
The Status and Trends of Coral Reefs in the Pacific: 2024 – A Call to Action for Pacific Islands and People

Pacific leaders and experts will launch "The Status and Trends of Coral Reefs in the Pacific: 2024" presenting four decades of data (from 1980 - 2023) to drive urgent action for coral reefs. 

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📅 12 June | 🕒 10:30–13:00 hrs | 📍Salle de la table Ronde Action Pour L’Ocean 
Leveraging Ocean, Climate and Biodiversity Interlinkages 

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📅 12 June | 🕒 10:30–11:45 hrs | 📍Room 5, Blue Zone 
UN-Oceans as a mechanism to mobilize multilateral ocean action and amplify collective impacts toward the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14

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📅 12 June | 🕒 10:30–11:45 hrs | 📍Room 3, Blue Zone 
SIDS Coalition for Nature – Achievements & Perspectives for Ocean Action

The SIDS Coalition for Nature’s side-event aims at 

• Presenting the SIDS Coalition for Nature’s achievements on Ocean Action;
• Announcing VOCs; and
• Catalyzing further support for the Coalition.

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📅 12 June | 🕒 10:30–11:45 hrs | 📍Room 4, Blue Zone 
Driving a Regenerative Ocean Economy: Aligning Business, Policy, and Finance for Impact

This session explores how business-led action, driven by policy and finance, can scale ocean-positive impact and advance SDG14 and biodiversity goals. 

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📅 12 June | 🕒 13:30–15:00 hrs | 📍Abroad the Statsraad Lehmkuhl 
A Global Ocean Free from the Harmful Impacts of Pollution by 2050

Ocean pollution presents a critical challenge to ecosystems, economies, and human health. UNESCO-IOC and UNEP propose a new UN Ocean Decade Programme entitled ‘A Global Ocean Free from the Harmful Impacts of Pollution by 2050.’ This event will highlight how a better understanding of ocean pollution could help mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss and it will stress the lack of data on ocean pollution. 

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📅 12 June | 🕒 14:00–15:15 hrs | 📍Room 3, Blue Zone 
The 100% Alliance: Global Ocean, Global Goal

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📅 13 June | 🕒 14:00–15:15 hrs | 📍Room 3, Blue Zone 
Mobilizing the GEF Partnership for the Ocean: Building on 30 Years of Promoting Ocean Conservation and Sustainable Use

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📅 12 June | 🕒 15:00–18:00 hrs | 📍Salle de la table Ronde Action Pour L’Ocean 
Promoting and supporting all forms of cooperation, especially at the regional and sub-regional level

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📅 13 June | 🕒 12:45–13:30 hrs | 📍Orca Room, Palais des Expositions
Scaling Collective Action for 30x30: The East Asian Seas Regional Collaborative Network of MPAs (part 2)

This official side event (part 2) highlights the Regional Collaborative Network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for the East Asian Seas as a platform for joint action, knowledge exchange, and capacity building to accelerate progress toward SDG14 and 30x30.