PARIS: Nations will be under pressure to deliver more than just rhetoric at a UN oceans summit in France next week, including much-needed funds to better protect the world鈥檚 overexploited and polluted seas.
The third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC) seeks to build global unity and raise money for marine conservation even as nations disagree over deep-sea mining, plastic trash and overfishing.
On Sunday, hosts France are expecting about 70 heads of state and government to arrive in Nice for a pre-conference opening ceremony, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Oceans are 鈥渋n a state of emergency鈥� and the June 9 to 13 meeting 鈥渨ill not be just another routine gathering,鈥� said UN under-secretary-general Li Junhua.
鈥淭here鈥檚 still time to change our course if we act collectively,鈥� he told reporters.
Most countries are expected to send ministers or lower-level delegates to the summit, which does not carry the weight of a climate COP or UN treaty negotiation or make legally binding decisions.
The United States under President Donald Trump 鈥� whose recent push to fast-track seabed mining in international waters sparked global outrage 鈥� is unlikely to send a delegation at all.
France has promised the summit will do for ocean conservation what the Paris Agreement did for global climate action.
Nations present are expected to adopt a 鈥淣ice Declaration鈥�: a statement of support for greater ocean protection, coupled with voluntary additional commitments by individual governments.
Greenpeace has slammed the text 鈥� which was agreed after months of negotiation 鈥� as 鈥渨eak鈥� and said it risked making Nice 鈥渁 meaningless talking shop.鈥�
Pacific leaders are expected to turn out in force and demand, in particular, concrete financial commitments from governments.
鈥淭he message is clear: voluntary pledges are not enough,鈥� Ralph Regenvanu, environment minister for Vanuatu, told reporters.
The summit will also host business leaders, international donors and ocean activists, while a science convention beforehand is expected to draw 2,000 ocean experts.
France has set a high bar of securing by Nice the 60 ratifications needed to enact a landmark treaty to protect marine habitats outside national jurisdiction.
So far, only 28 countries and the European Union have done so. Olivier Poivre d鈥橝rvor, France鈥檚 oceans envoy, says that without the numbers the conference 鈥渨ill be a failure.鈥�
Bringing the high seas treaty into force is seen as crucial to meeting the globally-agreed target of protecting 30 percent of oceans by 2030.
The summit could also prove influential on other higher-level negotiations in the months ahead and provide 鈥渁 temperature check in terms of ambition,鈥� said Megan Randles, head of Greenpeace鈥檚 delegation at the Nice conference.
In July the International Seabed Authority will deliberate over a long-awaited mining code for the deep oceans, one that Trump has skirted despite major ecological concerns.
That comes in the face of growing calls for governments to support an international moratorium on seabed mining, something France and roughly 30 other countries have already backed.
And in August, nations will again seek to finalize a binding global treaty to tackle plastic trash after previous negotiation rounds collapsed.
Countries and civil society groups are likely to use the Nice meeting to try to shore up support ahead of these proceedings, close observers said.
Nations meeting at UN conferences have struggled recently to find consensus and much-needed finance to combat climate change and other environmental threats.
Oceans are the least funded of all the UN鈥檚 sustainable development goals but it wasn鈥檛 clear if Nice would shift the status quo, said Angelique Pouponneau, a lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States.
鈥淲ith so many competing crises and distractions on the global agenda, it鈥檚 hard to be confident that the level of ambition needed will actually show up,鈥� Pouponneau told AFP.
Costa Rica, which is co-hosting the conference with France, said public and private commitments of $100 billion with 鈥渃lear timelines, budgets and accountability mechanisms鈥� could be expected.
鈥淭his is what is different this time around 鈥� zero rhetoric, maximum results,鈥� Maritza Chan Valverde, Costa Rica鈥檚 permanent representative to the UN, told reporters.
Pepe Clarke, oceans practice leader from WWF, told AFP there was 鈥渁n understandable level of skepticism about conferences.鈥�
But he said Nice must be 鈥渁 turning point... because to date the actions have fallen far short of what鈥檚 needed to sustain a healthy ocean into the future.鈥�