On June 9, the high-level 2025 United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development (the 2025 UN Ocean Conference) began in Nice (French Republic). The event will last until June 13, 2025. 

Ukraine is represented at this international event by an official delegation, which includes: Olha Kuryshko, Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; Serhii Vlasenko, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources for Digital Development, Digital Transformation, and Digitalization, head of the delegation; and Vadym Omelchenko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the French Republic, deputy head of the delegation. 

The overall theme of the Conference is  “Accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.” The forum aims to support further and urgent action on the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development, as well as to identify ways and means to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14.

The conference brings together a wide range of participants—from governments and the UN system to intergovernmental organizations, international financial institutions, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, the scientific community, the private sector, and civil society organizations—for a comprehensive assessment of the challenges and opportunities associated with the conservation of marine ecosystems.

Ukraine’s participation in the Conference raises international awareness of the environmental challenges caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, in particular the condition of aquatic ecosystems and the Black Sea basin, as well as the consequences of the Russian Federation’s actions on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea, in particular its coastal areas. Overcoming the consequences caused by the Russian Federation’s war requires international cooperation. Russia’s aggression affects not only the Black Sea region but also the global state of the world’s oceans.