Ocean Summit in Nice: 63 Heads of State and Government Present... and a Few Notable Absentees

Who? The success of this third UN Conference on the Ocean obviously depends on the list of world decision-makers who responded to the Nice call. The Élysée Palace waited until the first day of this international summit to reveal it.

On Friday, President Emmanuel Macron announced that there would be twice as many heads of state and government in Lisbon, which hosted the previous UNOC, as in 2022. In the end, 63 heads of state and government gathered in the Côte d'Azur capital.

Latin America and the African continent

Among the summit's heavyweights is a strong presence from Latin America. In addition to Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles, co-host with France, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazilian President Javier Gerardo Milei, his Argentine counterpart, as well as the presidents of Colombia and Paraguay, and Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra, are also in Nice.

On the African side, the presidents of Benin, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Sierra Leone.

Also present are Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; Mohamed Younis Al-Menfi, Chairman of the Presidential Council of the State of Libya; Mute Bourup Egede, Prime Minister of Greenland; and Abdel Latif Jamal Rachid, President of the Republic of Iraq.

The European Union in force

The European Union made the group trip with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Antonio Costa, President of the European Council, Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, and Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

There are also four vice-presidents, including that of China, and four deputy prime ministers.

The great absentees

Other countries of the world are represented at a less important diplomatic level by ministers or simple "representatives".

This is the case of the United States, Canada and Australia, whose heads of state, starting with Donald Trump, are notably absent from this summit.

Also noteworthy is the defection of some of our closest European partners. Neither Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister, nor the new German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, made the trip. Nor did Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister.