UN Ocean Conference: Belgium emerging as an ocean nation

The UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France, marked an important step towards the entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. Belgium is emerging more and more as an ocean nation. Ambassador Willem van de Voorde, our Special Envoy for Climate and Environment, tells us more about it.

The 3rd UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) took place in Nice, France, from 9 June to 13 June 2025. This third edition was remarkably well received by the press. There were 30,000 participants, with 64 heads of state and government also attending.

That alone is a testament to the growing awareness of the ocean's importance. It is no exaggeration to say that the ocean is essential for humanity's survival (see box). But it is in a state of major crisis due to issues such as acidification, overfishing, warming and widespread pollution (plastics, etc.). Urgent action is now crucial.
 

50 ratifications

According to Ambassador Willem van de Voorde, Belgium's Special Envoy for Climate and Environment at our FPS, the Nice ocean conference has already set the stage. He led the Belgian delegation in Nice along with the Minister of Justice with responsibility for the North Sea, Annelies Verlinden, and the Minister of Mobility, Climate and Ecological Transition, Jean-Luc Crucke. "I thought it was a successful conference, thanks in part to the energy of French President Macron. He was able to convey the message to the public that the ocean is crucial to the global climate but is currently under threat. And that fish stocks are highly vulnerable due to overfishing, illegal fishing and trawling (when large nets are dragged across the seabed and cause damage, ed.)."

Perhaps the most significant achievement was the progress made on the BBNJ Agreement, which seeks to convert 30% of the high seas into marine protected areas by 2030. Comprising over 64% of the ocean, the high seas cover a vast area and fall outside any national jurisdiction. Hence the term marine Biodiversity of areas Beyond National Jurisdiction or BBNJ.

"Twenty countries - including Belgium - deposited their instruments of ratification during UNOC3," said van de Voorde. "That brings the total to 50 countries. We are hopeful that the threshold of 60 ratifications will be met in September, prior to the UN General Assembly. The agreement will officially enter into force after an anticipated four-month waiting period, i.e. in January 2026. Within the year, there will then be a first 'conference of the parties to the agreement', or COP1, to further flesh out the agreement."

UNOC3 has also clearly created momentum. Van de Voorde: "Several countries announced firm commitments. For example, the small island states of the Marshall Islands and Micronesia announced the establishment of quite extensive marine nature reserves or marine protected areas (MPAs) in their EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone, ed.). That is really an achievement considering how heavily those countries depend on fishing! It's a great signal to other countries showing that it is possible. Portugal has also delimited MPA zones around the Azores."

Belgium is an ocean nation

Belgium is emerging more and more as an ocean nation. "Make no mistake," Van de Voorde emphasises. "Our 65 kilometres of coastline may seem small but it is a highly strategic strait, comparable to Hormuz (between the United Arab Emirates and Iran) or the Strait of Malacca (between Sumatra and Malacca). We also have large ports, major shipowners with huge tanker fleets, dredgers that are among the top five in the world and an extensive network of scientists."

Those Belgian shipowners also happen to be trailblazers when it comes to investing in technologies that enable net-zero emissions. As a maritime nation, our country is a member of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which is currently charting a path to make maritime shipping climate-neutral by 2050.

Belgium also plays in the big leagues when it comes to ocean research. No fewer than 144 marine research groups are studying an extremely diverse range of topics. Our country believes that a robust scientific foundation is essential to conserve and sustainably use marine resources. This explains the participation of a large number of scientists from the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (KBIN-IRSNB) in UNOC3.

BBNJ Secretariat

As a Blue Leader, Belgium was also closely involved in the creation of an ambitious BBNJ Agreement. One of the points our country secured was the establishment of an independent secretariat for the BBNJ Agreement, which will be separate from the UN umbrella in New York. A separate secretariat with its own budget and staff signifies strength and autonomy.

Belgium therefore immediately proposed itself as a candidate to host the BBNJ Secretariat in Brussels. Van de Voorde: "During the UNOC in Nice, we organised a well-attended side event in which an international panel examined the exact role of such a secretariat. It all comes down to the fact that the BBNJ Secretariat should be an intersection of knowledge exchange - a clearing house. The success of the BBNJ Agreement depends on a smooth exchange of knowledge relating to the delimitation of protected zones, marine organisms, and the impact of human activities such as fishing, maritime shipping, dredging and so on."

Belgium further participated in two other side events that highlighted the importance of the BBNJ Agreement and encouraged countries to ratify it as soon as possible. We also spoke at an informal ministerial session concerning an agreement being developed to combat plastic pollution, a huge problem for the ocean. Belgium is a member of a coalition advocating the most ambitious UN treaty on plastics.

Minister Crucke co-chaired one of the nine "Ocean Action Panels," specifically the panel on the connection between the ocean and climate policy and biodiversity. Because if we want to achieve carbon neutrality, we must fully commit to protecting the ocean without losing sight of biodiversity.
 

Knowledge sharing is crucial

That knowledge exchange is crucial for our country is also evident from a number of initiatives we have supported. "For example, we supported the Lympia Declaration of Intent," van de Voorde says. "Its goal is to expand the new international organisation, Mercator Ocean, into an organisation that will collect even more ocean data and make it available for scientific research. Belgium's actual accession will not be decided until later. We also joined IPOS, the International Platform for Oceanographic Sustainability, which also wants to share studies on the importance of the ocean among its members. Finally, we joined the high ambition coalition of countries that want to act on disruptive underwater noise."

Another theme that was actively discussed on the stages or in the corridors was whether or not to impose a moratorium - a pause - on the exploitation of the deep seabed. Opposite a number of strong supporters, including French President Macron, are other states that have yet to determine their position. This is also the case for Belgium. For the time being, our country is taking a cautious stance and wants international law to form the basis of any possible future exploitation. A more definitive position is currently still being discussed internally in Brussels, according to our climate envoy.
 

David Attenborough

UNOC3 clearly created momentum, with a noticeably greater sense of urgency than at other ocean meetings. It also gave Belgium an added drive, spurred on by our candidacy to host the BBNJ Secretariat in Brussels. But even apart from that, there was the growing realisation that we are a fully fledged ocean nation that will continue to work for healthy oceans.

Want to learn more about the ocean? Then be sure to watch Ocean, David Attenborough's newly released documentary that takes you on a breathtaking journey into an unknown world full of life, wonder and surprise. "After almost 100 years on this planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea," Attenborough says in the documentary.