Latest news with #LiJunhua
Scoop
03-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Interview: Sevilla ‘A Critical Test' Of Multilateralism
The promises were made at the opening of the Financing for Development Conference (FFD4), currently underway in the Spanish city of Sevilla, when delegates agreed on the Sevilla Commitment. During the conference UN News spoke to Li Junhua, the UN Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs and Secretary-General of the international summit. Li Junhua: The adoption of the Sevilla Agreement was an exceptional moment at an event which has brough together some 60 Heads of State and Government and seen 130 major initiatives announced as part of the Sevilla Platform for Action, which is aiming to implement the outcome document and turbocharge financing for sustainable development. A record number of business leaders from various sectors actively participated in and positively contributed to the entire process and to the outcome of Conference. They all committed to supporting the implementation of the new roadmap. UN News: What benefits do you think vulnerable communities in developing countries can look forward to, as a direct result of the decisions made here in Sevilla? Li Junhua: The Sevilla Commitment firmly recognizes that poverty eradication is indispensable to achieving sustainable development. This is the most essential point for all the developing countries. It proposes a package of actions for a large-scale investment push for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the long run. This includes boosting investment in vital areas such as social protection systems, agrifood systems and inclusive, affordable and quality health systems. Furthermore, it aims to strengthen the global response to crises which affect vulnerable communities the most. For instance, it calls for the implementation of the decision concerning climate finance agreed at the UN Climate Conference in Baku, and also the fund for responding to Loss and Damage. To me, significant steps and commitments have been made to support countries in special situations to close the significant infrastructure gap in critical sectors. The most vulnerable populations can benefit significantly by gaining essential services and employment opportunities generated by, for instance, energy, transport, ICT [information and communication technology], water and sanitation infrastructure development. Last but not least, there is a strong resolve to expand access to financial products and services across society, particularly for women, youth, persons with disabilities, displaced people, migrants and other persons in vulnerable situations. These are very tangible outcomes for vulnerable communities. UN News: In what ways is this conference a real test of multilateralism, at a time when it's under more strain than ever, and with a deeply uncertain global economic outlook? Li Junhua: This conference is a critical test of our ability to solve problems together. We know that, at its core, the sustainable development crisis is a crisis of funding and financing. We need to tackle these challenges to bring the SDGs back on track, but it is far from easy. Commitments on development finance directly impact national budgets, and reforming the international financial architecture will inevitably shift the power dynamics between States. The fact that Member States adopted the Sevilla Agreement by consensus sends a powerful signal that multilateralism can still deliver. Of course, the real challenge now lies in translating these commitments into actions. So I would say that, ultimately, success depends on the collective efforts of all Member States and all stakeholders.
Scoop
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
UN Ocean Summit In Nice Closes With Wave Of Commitments
'We close this historic week not just with hope, but with concrete commitment, clear direction, and undeniable momentum,' Li Junhua, the UN's Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Secretary-General of the summit, told reporters. Co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, the five-day event brought 15,000 participants, including more than 60 Heads of State and Government, to France's Mediterranean coast. With over 450 side events and nearly 100,000 visitors, the gathering, dubbed UNOC3, built on the momentum of previous ocean summits in New York (2017) and Lisbon (2022). It culminated in a shared call to expand marine protection, curb pollution, regulate the high seas, and unlock financing for vulnerable coastal and island nations. Ambitious pledges The conference's outcome, known as the Nice Ocean Action Plan, is a two-part framework that comprises a political declaration and over 800 voluntary commitments by governments, scientists, UN agencies, and civil society since the previous conference. 'These range from advocacy by youth to deep-sea ecosystem literacy, capacity building in science and innovation, and pledges to ratify intergovernmental treaties,' Mr. Li said. The pledges unveiled this week reflected the breadth of the ocean crisis. The European Commission announced an investment of €1 billion to support ocean conservation, science, and sustainable fishing, while French Polynesia pledged to create the world's largest marine protected area, encompassing its entire exclusive economic zone – about five million square kilometers. Germany launched a €100-million programme to remove underwater munitions from the Baltic and North Seas. In addition, New Zealand committed $52 million to strengthen ocean governance in the Pacific, and Spain announced five new marine protected areas. A 37-country coalition led by Panama and Canada launched the High Ambition Coalition for a Quiet Ocean to tackle underwater noise pollution. Meanwhile, Indonesia and the World Bank introduced a 'Coral Bond' to help finance reef conservation in the country. 'The waves of change have formed,' Mr. Li said. 'It is now our collective responsibility to propel them forward – for our people, our planet, and future generations.' A diplomatic stage The summit opened Monday with stark warnings. 'We are not treating the ocean as what it is – the ultimate global commons,' said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, alongside the presidents of France and Costa Rica, Emmanuel Macron and Rodrigo Chaves Robles, who called for a renewed multilateralism anchored in science. On Friday, France's special envoy for the conference, Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, recalled the stakes: 'We wanted in Nice... to take a chance on transformative change. I believe we have moved forward, but we can no longer go backwards.' One of the conference's main objectives was to accelerate progress on the High Seas Treaty – known as the BBNJ agreement – adopted in 2023 to safeguard marine life in international waters. Sixty ratifications are needed for it to enter into force. Over the past week, 19 countries ratified the accord, bringing the total number as for Friday, to 50. 'This is a significant victory,' said Mr. Poivre d'Arvor. 'It's very difficult to work on the ocean right now when the United States is so little involved.' The French envoy was alluding to the absence of a senior US delegation, as well as President Donald Trump's recent executive order advancing deep-sea mining. 'The abyss is not for sale,' he said, echoing remarks made earlier in the week by President Macron. Still, Mr. Poivre d'Arvor emphasized the broad agreement achieved at the summit. 'One country may be missing,' he said. 'But 92 per cent of the 'co-owners' were present today in Nice.' His counterpart, Arnoldo André-Tinoco, the Foreign Minister of Costa Rica, urged other nations to accelerate financing for ocean protection. 'Each commitment must be held accountable,' he said at the conference's closing meeting. Momentum – and a test For Peter Thomson, the UN's Special Envoy for the Ocean, Nice marked a turning point. 'It's not so much what happens at the conference, it is what happens afterwards,' he told UN News, recalling the early days of ocean advocacy when Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14), on life below water, was first established. 'From the desert we were in back in 2015… to where we are now, where you see this incredible engagement.' Looking ahead, attention is already turning to the Fourth UN Ocean Conference, slated to be co-hosted by Chile and South Korea in 2028. 'We're going to again see a big surge upwards from here,' Mr. Thomson predicted. He expressed hope that major global agreements — including the BBNJ treaty, the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement, and the future Global Plastics Treaty – will all be ratified and implemented by then. The 2028 summit will also mark a moment of reckoning, as SDG 14 approaches its 2030 target. 'What do we do when SDG 14 matures in 2030?' Mr. Thomson asked. 'Obviously, it's got to be raised ambition. It's got to be stronger.' He emphasized that while SDG14 had aimed to protect 10 per cent of the ocean by 2020 – a target the world failed to meet – the new benchmark is 30 per cent by 2030. Wearing a shell necklace gifted by the Marshall Islands, the Fiji native praised small island nations and atoll collectives for setting ambitious marine protections. 'If small countries can make big measures like that, why can't the big countries follow suit?' he said. He also saluted the 2,000 scientists who gathered for the One Ocean Science Congress ahead of the summit. 'What a great way to run things,' he said. A show of unity Despite the celebratory tone, tensions lingered. Small Island Developing States pushed for stronger language on loss and damage – harms inflicted by climate change that go beyond what people can adapt to. 'You cannot have an ocean declaration without SIDS,' one delegate warned earlier this week. Others, including President Chaves, of Costa Rica, called for a moratorium on deep-sea mining in international waters until science can assess the risks – a step not included in the final declaration. Still, the political declaration adopted in Nice, titled Our ocean, our future: united for urgent action, reaffirms the goal of protecting 30 percent of the ocean and land by 2030, while supporting global frameworks like the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Agreement (adopted in 2022, committing nations to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 through ambitious conservation targets and sustainable biodiversity management) and the UN International Maritime Organization's (IMO) climate goals. 'The real test,' Mr. Li said, 'is not what we said here in Nice – but what we do next.' As the sun dipped behind the Promenade des Anglais and the conference's final plenary adjourned, the sea – ancient, vital, and imperiled – bore silent witness to a fragile but shared promise.
Scoop
15-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
UN Ocean Conference Delivers Unified Call To Action And Strong Commitments
Nice, France, 13 June 2025 – The 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference concluded today with more than 170 countries adopting an intergovernmentally agreed declaration committing to urgent action to conserve and sustainably use the ocean. The political declaration titled Our ocean, our future: united for urgent action calls for concrete steps to expand marine protected areas, decarbonize maritime transport, combat marine pollution, and mobilize finance for vulnerable coastal and island nations, among others. The declaration – together with bold voluntary commitments by States and other entities – constitutes the Nice Ocean Action Plan, successfully concluding the five-day Conference with a boost to environmental multilateralism. 'Pledges made this week must be rigorously implemented, tracked, and scaled,' said United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua, who served as the Conference Secretary-General. 'The momentum we have generated must carry us forward to COP30, global and regional ocean forums, and national decision-making, and translate into decisive national action.' Voluntary commitments made during the Conference include: The European Commission, as part of its Ocean Pact, announced an investment of 1 billion EUR to support ocean conservation, science and sustainable fishing. French Polynesia pledged to create the world's largest marine protected area to safeguard its seas, covering its entire exclusive economic zone, approximately 5 million square kilometres (1.93 million square miles). New Zealand committed over 52 million US dollars towards supporting enhanced ocean governance, management and science in the Pacific Islands region. Germany launched a 100 million EUR immediate action programme for the recovery and clearance of legacy munitions in the German Baltic and North Seas – the first of its kind. Indonesia, the World Bank and other partners launched a Coral Bond, a groundbreaking financial instrument designed to mobilize private capital to conserve coral reef ecosystems within marine protected areas in Indonesia. Thirty-seven countries, led by Panama and Canada, launched the High Ambition Coalition for a Quiet Ocean — the first high-level political initiative to tackle ocean noise pollution on a global scale. Italy committed 6.5 million EUR to strengthen surveillance by the Coast Guard in marine protected areas and on oil platforms, including through a satellite surveillance system capable of detecting potential oil spills in real time. Canada contributed 9 million US dollars to the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance to help Small Island Developing States and coastal developing countries increase their resilience to the impacts of climate change through nature-based solutions. Spain committed to creating five new marine protected areas that would allow protection of 25% of its marine territory. A collective of United Nations agencies and global partners launched a co-design process for One Ocean Finance — a bold new effort to unlock billions in new financing from ocean-dependent industries and blue economy sectors. A Conference report, listing the voluntary commitments in an annex, will be published after the Conference. The Marine Biodiversity Treaty (BBNJ Agreement) In a big step towards entry into force of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement), 19 more States ratified the Agreement in the margins of the Conference, and 20 more signed it, bringing the total number of signatures to 136, and ratifications to 50 States plus the European Union. Ten more ratifications are needed for the Agreement to enter into force. The BBNJ Agreement, adopted in June 2023, is a crucial legal instrument to protect marine life and ecosystems in the two-thirds of the ocean that lie beyond any country's jurisdiction. About the Conference From 9 to 13 June 2025, 55 Heads of State and Government, along with 15,000 participants from civil society, business, and science, participated in the UN Ocean Conference co-hosted by the Governments of France and Costa Rica, including more than 450 side events, to accelerate action and mobilize all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean. Ten Ocean Action Panels produced forward-looking recommendations to guide implementation across key themes — from marine pollution and nature-based solutions to the role of women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples in ocean governance. The fourth UN Ocean Conference, in 2028, will be co-hosted by Chile and the Republic of Korea.
RTÉ News
14-06-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
What was the result of the UN Oceans Conference?
The third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) drew to a close Nice yesterday following five days of high-level meetings between governments, experts, climate campaigners and community representatives. More than 15,000 delegates took part in the week-long summit, including more than 60 heads of state and government. By the end of the summit, more than 170 countries adopted a political declaration entitled 'Our ocean, our future: united for urgent action' (also known as the 'Nice Ocean Action Plan'), committing to urgent action on conserving and sustainably using the world's ocean. The main goals of the declaration include expanding marine protection areas, limiting marine pollution and increasing financial aid for coastal and island nations. Speaking to reporters at yesterday's closing press conference, Li Junhua, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and UNOC3 Secretary-General, said the pledges made at Nice "must be rigorously implemented, tracked, and scaled". More than 800 new voluntary commitments were made by countries in the lead up to, and during, the summit, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica. Highlights included the European Union's new Ocean Pact - a €1bn commitment from the European Commission to protect marine life and strengthening the blue economy - and French Polynesia's commitment to create the world's largest marine protected area, encompassing about five million The 'High Ambition Coalition for a Quiet Ocean', a club of 37 countries, co-led by Canada and Panama and which includes Ireland, was also launched at UNOC3 to campaign for a reduction in underwater noise pollution. Germany launched a €100m action plan to clear World War II-era munitions in the Baltic Sea and North Sea, while, Indonesia and the World Bank launched a 'Coral Bond', a new financial instrument to raise private capital to conserve coral reef ecosystems in Indonesia's marine protected zones. A key objective of UNOC3 was to get more countries to sign and ratify the so-called High Seas Treaty, shorthand for the not-so-easily-named United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction. The treaty aims to create marine protection zones in international waters, to curb overfishing and safeguard marine ecosystems. Nineteen countries ratified the treaty during UNOC3, bringing the total number of ratifications to 50. Sixty ratification are required in order for the treaty to come into force at UN level. Taoiseach Micheál Martin told RTÉ News at UNOC3 last Monday that Ireland would ratify the treaty. Olivier Poivre D'Arvor, French special envoy at UNOC3, said, "what was decided in Nice cannot be undone. No illegal path is acceptable". Nine-five countries also supported a French initiative at the summit to limit plastic production and consumption, ahead of the next round of talks in Geneva in August to iron out the terms of a global plastics treaty. According to the UN, up to 12 million metric tonnes of plastic ends enters the oceans and seas each year. That is the equivalent of a bin truck every minute. However, it was not all plain sailing in Nice. The United States did not send a high-ranking delegation to the summit. Such a move was hardly surprising given US President Donald Trump's recent executive order to fast-track the permit process for deep sea mining licences in US and international waters, a relatively new technique that involves dredging the seafloor with a pump to extract metals and minerals. In contrast, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, when referring to deep sea mining during his speech to UNOC3 delegates on Monday, said "the deep sea cannot become the Wild West". French President Emmanuel Macron had also called for a moratorium on deep sea mining during his opening speech at the summit. This week has shown that the current US administration is at odds with most of the world's governments when it comes to protecting the world's oceans.
Hans India
14-06-2025
- Business
- Hans India
170 nations in Nice commit to expand marine protected areas, combat pollution
Nice (France): The 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference concluded with more than 170 countries adopting an inter-governmentally agreed declaration committing to urgent action to conserve and sustainably use the world's oceans. The political declaration titled 'Our ocean, Our future: United for urgent action' calls for concrete steps to expand marine protected areas, decarbonise maritime transport, combat marine pollution, and mobilise finance for vulnerable coastal and island nations, among others. The declaration -- together with bold voluntary commitments by states and other entities -- constitutes the Nice Ocean Action Plan, successfully concluding the five-day conference with a boost to environmental multilateralism. 'Pledges made this week must be rigorously implemented, tracked, and scaled,' said United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua, who served as the conference Secretary-General. 'The momentum we have generated must carry us forward to COP30, global and regional ocean forums, and national decision-making, and translate into decisive national action.' Voluntary commitments made during the conference include: The European Commission, as part of its Ocean Pact, announced an investment of 1 billion EUR to support ocean conservation, science and sustainable fishing. French Polynesia pledged to create the world's largest marine protected area to safeguard its seas, covering its entire exclusive economic zone, approximately 5 million square km (1.93 million square miles). New Zealand committed over $52 million towards supporting enhanced ocean governance, management and science in the Pacific Islands region. Germany launched a 100 million EUR immediate action programme for the recovery and clearance of legacy munitions in the German Baltic and North Seas -- the first of its kind. Indonesia, the World Bank and other partners launched a Coral Bond, a groundbreaking financial instrument designed to mobilise private capital to conserve coral reef ecosystems within marine protected areas in Indonesia. Thirty-seven countries, led by Panama and Canada, launched the High Ambition Coalition for a Quiet Ocean -- the first high-level political initiative to tackle ocean noise pollution on a global scale. Italy committed 6.5 million EUR to strengthen surveillance by the Coast Guard in marine protected areas and on oil platforms, including through a satellite surveillance system capable of detecting potential oil spills in real time. Canada contributed 9 million US dollars to the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance to help Small Island Developing States and coastal developing countries increase their resilience to the impacts of climate change through nature-based solutions. Spain committed to creating five new marine protected areas that would allow protection of 25 per cent of its marine territory. A collective of United Nations agencies and global partners launched a co-design process for One Ocean Finance -- a bold new effort to unlock billions in new financing from ocean-dependent industries and blue economy sectors. A United Nations Ocean Conference report, listing the voluntary commitments in an annex, will be published after the summit. In a big step towards entry into force of the agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement), 19 more states ratified the agreement in the margins of the conference, and 20 more signed it, bringing the total number of signatures to 136, and ratifications to 50 states plus the European Union. Ten more ratifications are needed for the agreement to enter into force. The BBNJ Agreement, adopted in June 2023, is a crucial legal instrument to protect marine life and ecosystems in the two-thirds of the ocean that lie beyond any country's jurisdiction. From June 9 to 13, as many as 55 heads of state and government, along with 15,000 participants from civil society, business, and science, participated in the UN Ocean Conference co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, including more than 450 side events, to accelerate action and mobilise all actors to conserve and sustainably use the world's oceans. Ten ocean action panels produced forward-looking recommendations to guide implementation across key themes -- from marine pollution and nature-based solutions to the role of women, youth, and indigenous peoples in ocean governance. The fourth UN Ocean Conference in 2028 will be co-hosted by Chile and Korea.
