The United Nations is holding its Ocean Conference this week in France with two contrasting approaches from the US and the European Union.
On the one hand, there is the government of US President Donald Trump, which turned its back on the gathering because of its focus on biodiversity and sustainable use of the ocean.
The European Commission, led by President Ursula von der Leyen, arrived at the gathering with a plan, although not everyone has reacted to her Oceans Pact with enthusiasm.
The US approach to the UN conference is reminiscent of the Trump administration’s decision to pull out of International Maritime Organization’s climate talks in April.
The IMO, the UN regulator of shipping, reached an agreement on new greenhouse gas policies without Washington, although they have not been finalised.
A parade of world leaders has been speaking at the UN Ocean Conference on topics of biodiversity and climate change, but Trump is not one of them.
A US State Department spokesperson told TradeWinds that the conference’s focus on Sustainable Development Goal 14 is “at odds” with the administration’s position on the UN’s Agenda 2030.
The agenda contained the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals to achieve by the end of the decade. Goal 14 is centred on conservation and sustainable use of the ocean.
The US delegation to the conference will only involve two observers, the spokesperson said.
The Trump administration has rejected the UN’s sustainability goals.
US resistance
Edward Heartney, counsellor for economic and social affairs at the US mission to the UN, told the General Assembly in March that the goals, and the Agenda 2030 agreement that contained them, are adverse to American interests.
“Therefore, the United States rejects and denounces the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, and it will no longer reaffirm them as a matter of course,” he said at the time.
This week, French President Emmanuel Macron was critical of the US stance on the UN Ocean Conference, noting that international science still relies heavily on American funding.
And Macron spoke against deepsea mining, which Trump is seeking to promote in US waters.
“I want us to reach an agreement for the entire planet. Because it’s completely crazy,” Macron told reporters, according to Euro News.
“It’s completely crazy to go and exploit, to go and drill in a place we don’t know. It’s frenzied madness.”
Von der Leyen used the UN Ocean Conference to introduce the European Oceans Pact, as well as pledging €1bn ($1.14bn) on 50 science and conservation projects around the world.
The Oceans Pact was adopted by the European Commission last week with measures to protect and restore ocean health, as well as boost the competitiveness of the blue economy, which includes shipping.
It also seeks to advance ocean research, and von der Leyen used the UN conference to present a digital twin of the ocean and announce a global observation initiative.
“We must step up our efforts,” von der Leyen told the UN Ocean Conference. “The ocean is still in crisis, and without action, we risk our future.”
Mixed response
Environmental groups welcomed the pact’s cautious approach to deepsea mining and marine geoengineering, but they said the measures fall short in many areas.
The weaknesses include a lack of meaningful measures to reduce marine pollution at the source and a road map for a “regenerative” blue economy, according to a coalition of six groups.
Jacob Armstrong, ocean policy manager at the European policy office at environmental organisation WWF, said the pact’s commitment to an Ocean Act provides a strong signal with binding targets that could deliver ocean protection.
“But while the direction is right, the act will need to clarify key areas — including how public funding will be secured to make ocean protection a reality,” Armstrong said.
Von der Leyen called on nations to speed up ratification of the High Seas Treaty, an international agreement on marine biodiversity.
“The treaty is a crucial instrument to protect our oceans beyond borders,” she said. “Today we’re inches away from the 60 signatures for ratification.”
