The third United Nations Ocean Conference has adopted a political declaration entitled: “Our ocean, our future: united for urgent action”, stressing that the ocean plays an essential role in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change.

The declaration, also known as the “Nice Ocean Action Plan”, expressed deep concern that the ability of the ocean and its ecosystems to act as a climate regulator and to support adaptation has been “weakened”. Underlining the importance of interlinkages between the ocean, climate and biodiversity, the declaration called for enhanced global action to minimise the impact of climate change and ocean acidification.

The declaration affirmed the importance of the full and effective implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols, as well as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.