UNOC25 and the Power of Collective Action for Our Oceans

Dr. Sara Andreotti just came back from Nice (France), where she had the honor and opportunity of being invited to the Blue Finance and Economic Forum in Monaco (BEFF), and to the United Nations Ocean Conference 2025 (UNOC25). This is what she had to say about her experience.

You would think that these United Nation events are a common occurrence, but UNOC25 was only the third time in history where representatives from all over world came together to discuss how to accelerate global commitments to protect and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14).

Both events were in fact a pivotal moment in the global ocean agenda, and what came out of them, strongly than ever, is that protecting our Oceans is no longer a choice, but a necessity for the survival of the human species. Marine biologists, oceanographers, climate scientists, conservationists and pretty much anyone who ever put their head below the Ocean surface, know that: without a healthy ocean, there can be no healthy planet.

What made these events inspiring, was to hear the same message echoed by government leaders, investment funds, banks, insurance companies and shipping industry representatives, who strongly committed to put their money, influence and effort to act—together, urgently, and at scale—to safeguard our ocean for future generations.

In other words, it felt like this mission, that only a bunch of Ocean-lovers were carrying alone on their shoulders all these years, is now being shared by all levels of our society, globally!

Now that the dust settled, I must say it was an intense but incredibly inspiring week!

In fact, UNOC25 really was more than a conference, it was a true call to action. A space where scientists, policymakers, indigenous leaders, innovators, youth, and funders came together, under the same roof, to listen to each other, complain with each other, but also to look into solutions.

I feel that the President of Costa Rica - Rodrigo Chaves Robles is the person who best summarized everyone’s sentiment. He said: “Vision without action is just hallucination”.

So, we were building bridges together, we looked where the gaps for finances are, we helped each other by sharing our networks and worked to build the frameworks and partnerships necessary to drive real change.

From the outside, it might have looked like a lot of talks and no actions, but the talks were, for once, very driven by the urgency for tangible actions, and we will see in the next 6 months what will come out of this.

As someone who’s worked in shark conservation and ocean innovation for almost two decades, these events also reaffirmed what I’ve always believed: science alone is not enough. We need collaboration. We need funding. We need public support.

In fact, we explored how regenerative models of tourism, climate-resilient infrastructure, and community-driven innovation can all contribute to both economic development and ocean health and I was particularly reassured by seeing more and more local solutions being scaled globally. Conservation is increasingly being seen not as a cost, but as an investment in our collective future!