Activities of Secretary-General in France, 8-10 June
On Sunday, 8 June, the Secretary-General arrived in Nice, France, to take part in the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica.
On Sunday evening, the Secretary-General had a bilateral meeting with Han Zheng, Vice-President of China. They discussed mutual cooperation and international developments.
On Monday morning, 9 June, the Secretary-General delivered remarks at the opening of the 2025 UN Ocean Conference. In his remarks, he said that although the sea has sustained life for millennia, we are failing to protect the ocean — thanks to overfishing, plastic pollution and rising temperatures. The Secretary-General urged all countries that have not yet ratified the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction to do so. Mr. Guterres urged Member States to advance progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, Life Below Water.
In the afternoon, the Secretary-General spoke at the Africa for the Ocean event, co-hosted by Morocco and France. In his remarks, the Secretary-General said that with over 30,000 kilometres of coastline and 38 coastal States, Africa is a maritime powerhouse. The Secretary-General also held a productive meeting with civil society representatives from around the world active in ocean action. He emphasized the importance of civil society participation, momentum and insights to accelerate progress and increase global attention on ocean, climate and biodiversity action.
The Secretary-General had bilateral meetings with the following leaders: Laurent Saint-Cyr, Member of the Transitional Presidential Council of Haiti; Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of Viet Nam; King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, King of Jordan; and Rodrigo Chaves Robles, President of Costa Rica.
On Tuesday, 10 June, the Secretary-General held a press event, where he told journalists that we were in Nice on a mission — to save the ocean and to save our future. Mr. Guterres warned that the ocean is approaching a tipping point, adding that powerful interests are pushing us towards the brink. He said we have a moral duty to ensure that future generations inherit oceans swarming with life, and he called for stronger global cooperation, for action on plastic pollution and for the fight against climate change to extend to the seas.
Before leaving Nice, the Secretary-General also held bilateral meetings with Mohamed al-Menfi, the President of the Presidential Council of the State of Libya, and with Philip Isdor Mpango, the Vice-President of the United Republic of Tanzania.
The Secretary-General left Nice in the afternoon of Tuesday, 10 June.