Ocean Conference | Controversial climate protection in the ocean depths

A Bathyphysa jellyfish, also known as the Flying Spaghetti Monster, in a deep-sea mountain range off the coast of Chile. Deep-sea mining remains a controversial topic even after the Nice Ocean Conference.

The polar bear gazes sullenly from its ice floe at the French coastal city of Nice. Unlike in world-famous nature photographs, it is not clinging desperately to the sea, but rather sits resignedly on its hindquarters, its head resting on its paw. The art installation in the port of Nice is intended to urge the delegates of approximately 170 countries to take decisive action. The third United Nations Ocean Conference concludes there this Friday.

The oceans are in dire straits, UN Under-Secretary-General and Conference President Li Junhua declared at the opening. The causes are "rising ocean temperatures, ocean acidification, plastic waste, and the overexploitation of marine resources." The international community, together with civil society, business, and academia, should find solutions to these problems in Nice. French President Emmanuel Macron stated at the outset that the UN Ocean Conference should be as important for ocean conservation as the 2015 Paris Climate Conference was for the fight against the climate crisis.

A somewhat skewed comparison: Unlike climate conferences, the Ocean Conference cannot adopt legally binding treaties. The stated goal was therefore, in addition to a "Nice Ocean Action Plan" – a political declaration with primarily voluntary commitments – to prepare upcoming and legally binding agreements. Key topics included the designation of marine protected areas, an end to plastic pollution, and a moratorium on deep-sea mining.

Marine protected areas

To end the ongoing overloading of the oceans, 30 percent of the ocean surface should be protected by 2030 at the latest. This is one of the goals of the International Convention on the Conservation of Nature adopted in Montreal in 2022. However, to date only eight percent of the oceans are protected. The global community therefore has its hands full until the end of the decade. To achieve the 30 percent target, a legal framework for the establishment of marine protected areas on the high seas is needed. For this to happen, the United Nations Convention on the International Trade in Marine Resources, adopted two years ago in New York , must enter into force. This, in turn, will only happen when 60 countries ratify it, i.e., incorporate it into national law. By the start of the Ocean Conference, only 32 nations had taken this step.

Important progress was made in Nice. Just over 50 countries ratified the treaty. While this doesn't mean they've reached the 60-country mark, it's certain that they'll do so by the UN General Assembly in September. Germany and the EU still have to follow suit. Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider assured that Germany would deliver by September. "Once the big stage in Nice is dismantled, what happens in Berlin counts," said Franziska Saalmann of the environmental organization Greenpeace. Germany must also push for rapid implementation with clear funding commitments, proposals for protected areas, and close international cooperation.

Pollution of the oceans

Between 80 and 150 million tons of plastic are floating in the world's oceans. Whether snared around the neck of a sea turtle, in the stomachs of fish and seabirds, or as an environmental toxin in the form of released chemicals – plastic waste threatens marine ecosystems. For two years, the international community has been trying to negotiate a plastics agreement. The most recent negotiations ended in failure in December of last year in Busan, South Korea.

Another attempt will be made in August in Geneva, Switzerland. In Nice, 95 countries called for a limit on the production of primary plastics. Furthermore, all countries should be required to report on the production, import, and export of these materials. Environmental organizations praised the initiative. However, certainty can only be achieved through negotiations in Geneva.

Deep-sea mining remains controversial

"The deep sea must remain protected," declared Germany's Environment Minister Schneider in his speech in Nice. There are still large gaps in our knowledge, and therefore a "precautionary pause" in deep-sea mining is necessary. Germany, along with 32 other countries, advocated for a moratorium in advance of the conference. Although numerous countries also emphasized their concerns about deep-sea mining in Nice, the call for a moratorium gained only four additional countries.

In the "Nice Ocean Action Plan," however, the countries reaffirm the importance of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in this matter. The Jamaica-based authority's task is to develop, together with its member states, a set of regulations for the mining of minerals such as manganese. The authority's authority in this matter had recently been called into question. The Canadian company The Metals Company (TMC) promptly applied to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for a deep-sea mining permit. A few weeks earlier, US President Donald Trump had signed a decree authorizing the US to independently advance deep-sea mining in international waters.

"Deep-sea mining is a new form of industrial exploitation of the oceans that is extremely environmentally destructive and threatens people and the environment in the Pacific," said Jan Pingel of the Oceania Dialogue, an alliance of environmental and development organizations, commenting on the US initiative. Scientists warn that the deep sea is still poorly understood and the consequences of mining are therefore unpredictable.

Whether deep-sea mining is actually economically viable remains completely unclear. Investments in companies like TMC are treated as venture capital. Traditional mining companies have so far steered clear of deep-sea mining. Negotiations on the regulatory framework for deep-sea mining will continue in July. Germany, the EU, and 170 other countries are members of the ISA—unlike the USA.

Mixed mood

Reactions to the conclusion of the Ocean Conference were mixed. A network of various environmental organizations, including BUND and Greenpeace, praised the UN Ocean Conference on Friday for ending with a clear commitment to global ocean conservation. WWF also sees the conference as an important signal. Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Managing Director of Deutsche Umwelthilfe (German Environmental Aid), criticized the conference: "The UN Ocean Conference could have been a turning point for the protection of marine biodiversity and the fight against the climate crisis – but instead, protection was only asserted, not decided upon." The bear, sitting sullenly on his ice, will probably have to wait a little longer.