A UNESCO marine expert emphasizes the importance of global collaboration in addressing the pressing challenges of ocean governance and conservation, while highlighting China's leading role in advancing these efforts.
The United Nations celebrates the World Oceans Day every year on 8 June. And the 2025 UN Ocean Conference is set to take place from 9 to 13 June in Nice, France.
In a recent online interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Julian Barbiere, the head of the Marine Policy and Regional Coordination Section at the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and the lead coordinator of the UN Decade of Ocean Science, outlined the main goals expected from this high-level gathering.
"We need to move forward and improve ocean governance, and that means building national processes where we have the ocean being integrated into local economies and also being monitored. We have regional and international obligations. A new treaty for protecting marine biodiversity in the high seas was approved two years ago. Now, we need to make sure that countries are actually applying this new treaty and ratifying it. So, this is, hopefully, one key outcome of this conference in terms of gaining more political support for those global objectives," he said.
Ahead of the event, UNESCO called for an unprecedented surge in scientific engagement for the ocean within the international community and unveiled new initiatives centered around seabed mapping and the creation of a global network for ocean observation.
Barbiere believes that it is important for nations worldwide to cooperate and collaborate for the exploration and study of the ocean.
"Bringing together countries to collaborate, share information, share data, and address some of those challenges together. One example of this is the objective of mapping the seafloor. UNESCO and its partner, the International Hydrographic Organization, started working on this in 2017, and we went from six percent to 26 percent. Our ambition is to try to get to 100 percent by the end of the decade, but that again requires collaboration and engaging countries in making the data available. This is why, during this conference, we are launching a call for action to map the seabed," he said.
Barbiere also highlighted China's leading role in marine governance, particularly through international programs on ocean ecology and hazard forecasting. These efforts help strengthen climate resilience, especially for the Global South.
"In these areas, I have to say that China is one of the leading countries in terms of providing contributions to the UN Decade. We have several international programs led by China, for example, looking at the deep-sea ecology of the ocean, which is also looking at the forecasting, using better information to help forecast potential hazards like typhoons and storm surges, and making that technology available to other countries, which is very encouraging, particularly for the Global South. This is because we know that the Global South is lacking capacity in some of these areas," said Barbiere.
"We also have a Chinese Decade Collaborative Center looking at around ocean and climate aspects. This is why I believe that China is taking such a leadership role, and this is, of course, very much welcome," he added.
UNESCO expert emphasizes global cooperation, China's leadership in ocean governance
