Our Ocean Conference Nets $9.1B for Marine Protection

BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA — The 10th Our Ocean Conference (OOC) concluded this week with 277 new commitments totaling $9.1 billion (approximately PHP 510 billion) for sustainable ocean action, underscoring the conference’s growing impact as a global platform for marine conservation and climate resilience.

More than 60 countries and organizations made pledges across six key action areas: the ocean-climate nexus, marine pollution, marine protected areas (MPAs), sustainable blue economy, sustainable fisheries, and maritime security.

Since its inception in 2014, the OOC has facilitated over $160 billion in ocean-related commitments, with this year’s event marking the most ambitious single-year financial and policy effort since the platform’s founding.

Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries introduced “digital oceans” as a cross-cutting theme for OOC10, emphasizing the role of emerging technologies — such as AI, satellite and drone monitoring, and eDNA — in tracking biodiversity, enforcing regulations, and enhancing marine protection.

Nearly 10% of this year’s commitments integrated digital innovations to improve ocean monitoring and data-driven conservation.

The sustainable blue economy emerged as the top-funded category, with $4.5 billion in commitments dedicated to ocean entrepreneurship, blue economy frameworks, sustainable aquaculture, and the digital transformation of coastal enterprises.

A total of 59 blue economy projects were announced, reflecting the sector’s economic promise and alignment with broader development goals.

The ocean-climate nexus also featured prominently, particularly through pledges to support green shipping and nature-based solutions such as coastal blue carbon ecosystems.

Approximately 15% of climate-related commitments addressed the transition to sustainable fuels, cleaner ports, and marine biodiversity restoration, including $150 million in funding for kelp forest conservation and other blue carbon sinks.

Over 30 commitments this year targeted research and development, ranging from climate-biodiversity linkages to emerging threats like ocean acidification and plastic micro-pollutants.

The OOC also reinforced its legacy as a champion of MPAs, with more than 45 new commitments to identify, expand, and improve the management of protected marine areas and key habitats like turtle nesting grounds.

These efforts support the “30×30” global biodiversity target, which calls for protecting 30% of the world’s oceans and land by 2030 — a goal central to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Progress was also made toward ratifying and implementing the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Treaty, a landmark agreement aimed at conserving high seas biodiversity.

Governments at OOC10 committed new financing and policies to accelerate the treaty’s entry into force, including identifying future high seas MPA sites.

Marine pollution, especially plastic waste, remained a high priority, with over 20% of related commitments focused specifically on plastic reduction strategies, including recycling programs, policy frameworks, and grassroots education initiatives.

Other pollution-related efforts targeted noise reduction, wastewater management, land-based runoff, and ghost fishing gear.

This year’s conference also saw a surge in capacity-building commitments, including nearly 20 pledges to boost maritime security and combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing — particularly in vulnerable regions like the Pacific and West Africa.

More than 10 new education and training programs were launched to support marine science careers and strengthen conservation skills at the local level.

As the conference concluded, global leaders emphasized that OOC’s decade-long momentum must now translate into implementation, especially ahead of the upcoming UN Ocean Conference and COP30 in November.

“The Our Ocean Conference continues to be a catalyst for marine ambition,” said a joint communiqué from OOC organizers. “But with escalating threats and global deadlines looming, the time for action — backed by funding, technology, and policy — is now.”