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UN PhotoNICE / UNOC3 OPENING
STORY: NICE / UNOC3 OPENING
TRT: 03:40
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: FRENCH / ENGLISH / SPANISH / PORTUGUESE / NATS
DATELINE: 09 JUNE 2025, NICE, FRANCE
1. Various shots, conference venue, people in blue zone
2. Wide shot, SG arrival
3. Wide shot, UNOC3 plenary
4. SOUNDBITE (French) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The ocean is the ultimate shared resource, but we are failing it.”
5. Wide shot, participants
6. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“SDG 14 on life below water remains one of the least funded Sustainable Development Goals. This must change – through increased public finance, greater support from development banks, and bold models to unlock private capital. I urge all countries to come forward with bold pledges.”
7. Wide shot, participants
8. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We must embed ocean priorities across climate, food systems and sustainable finance. Because without a healthy ocean, there can be no healthy planet.”
9. Wide shot, UNOC3 plenary
10. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The deep sea cannot become the Wild West.”
11. Wide shot, participants
12. SOUNDBITE (French) Emmanuel Macron, President, French Republic:
“This fight is vital for all of us. And I say it here with force: the abyss is not for sale, any more than Greenland is for sale, any more than Antarctica or the high seas are for sale. The fishing rights of developing countries are not to be given away, nor is the safety of coastal populations to be sacrificed. We are talking about a common good. We are talking about a cause that commits us all. So, let’s go."
13. Med shot, speakers
14. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Rodrigo Chaves Robles, President, Republic of Costa Rica:
"This summit must be remembered as the moment when the world understood that caring for and protecting the ocean is not an option — it is a moral obligation, economic rationality, and essential to the very survival of our species on this Earth."
15. Med shot, President of France, President Costa Rica
16. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President, Brazil:
“Preventing the oceans from becoming a stage for geopolitical disputes is an urgent task for building peace. Gulfs and narrow straits must bring us closer, not become sources of conflict."
17. Wide shot, participants
18. Med shot, SG bilateral with President Costa Rica
19. Med shot, SG bilateral with President of France
UN chief said, “The deep sea cannot become the Wild West.”
The 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), co-hosted by the Governments of France and Costa Rica, opened today (9 Jun) in Nice with strong calls to accelerate action and mobilize all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.
“I urge all countries to come forward with bold pledges,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in his opening remarks to the Conference this morning.
President Emmanuel Macron of France, also addressing the opening ceremony, said, ““This fight is vital for all of us. And I say it here with force: the abyss is not for sale, any more than Greenland is for sale, any more than Antarctica or the high seas are for sale. The fishing rights of developing countries are not to be given away, nor is the safety of coastal populations to be sacrificed. We are talking about a common good. We are talking about a cause that commits us all. So, let’s go.”
President Rodrigo Chaves Robles of Costa Rica stated that “this summit must be remembered as the time when the world understood that looking after the ocean is not simply an option. Rather, it is a moral, economic, and indeed we need minimum protection.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said, “Preventing the oceans from becoming a stage for geopolitical disputes is an urgent task for building peace. Gulfs and narrow straits must bring us closer, not become sources of conflict."
Bringing together world leaders, scientists, private sector representatives, civil society, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, the high-level gathering underscores the ocean’s vital role in regulating the climate, sustaining food security and livelihoods, and preserving biodiversity.
The ocean is under growing pressure from climate change and human activity, with record heat severely impacting marine life, and escalating threats from pollution, overfishing and biodiversity loss pushing marine ecosystems to the brink.
The Conference is expected to adopt an intergovernmentally negotiated political declaration, which, along with a registry of voluntary commitments from across sectors, will be referred to as the Nice Ocean Action Plan – outcomes aimed at catalyzing urgent, inclusive, and science-based action to safeguard the ocean for present and future generations.
