Written statement 2025 UN Ocean Conference

13 Jun 2025 – France, Costa Rica, and the UN have demonstrated real leadership, putting ocean protection where it belongs: at the top of the global agenda. They’ve made it clear the world needs bold action, not vague promises.

The 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference brought the world together. Now we must act – fast, hard, and with full accountability.

The ocean is in freefall. Ministers, sovereign nations, and major fishing companies all know the truth: we are smashing our oceans. Biomass collapse is no longer a risk – it is reality. But it’s reversible. We can reclaim the ocean’s lost abundance – for marine life, for food security, and for the global economy.

We must lock in 30 per cent no-take Marine Protected Areas by 2030, in every nation, in the High Seas, and across at least 30 per cent of Antarctica. This must be the minimum, not the maximum. And it must be enforced, not just declared.

Thanks to science, enforcement is now possible. Satellites track vessels in real time. AI flags illegal behavior. The excuses are gone.

Minderoo Foundation will act, not just by calling for change, but by funding it, legislating it, and enforcing it.

• We are backing the Flourishing Oceans Commercial Fishing Act (FOCFA), a self-financing, enforcement-ready model for no-take MPAs and sustainable fisheries.

At its core is a simple rule with powerful consequences: You report. You win the license or the vessel.

This flips enforcement incentives. Fishers, regulators, and even competitors are motivated to expose illegal actors. Governments reclaim lost revenue. Legal operators are protected. And the commercial risk of turning a blind eye rises – all the way up the supply chain.

With FOCFA, compliance becomes a competitive advantage. And protection becomes profitable – for those who uphold the rules.

• We are committing AU$25 million in new support announced at UNOC3, as part of AU$170 million in total ocean investment, spanning MPA implementation, high seas protection, eDNA science with UNESCO, and real-time vessel monitoring.
• We will relaunch the Global Fishing Index in 2026, ranking nations, fleets, and companies by how much fish biomass remains. If they fail to act, we will campaign against them, publicly and economically.
• We will engage fishing companies directly. Those who reform will earn our support. Those who don’t will face public pressure. We will open secure channels for reporting illegal activity and help regulators act.
• We will support a global moratorium on deep-sea mining until environmental protections meet or exceed gold-standard land safeguards.
• We will back the creation of a polymer premium, a fee to make plastic producers pay for pollution and health harm.

We call on the United Nations to reinforce its commitment to 30x30 by enabling enforceable regulation, designed in close collaboration with high-ambition nations and willing industry leaders. Tools like FOCFA can make this real. Regulation is now possible – and must be expected.

In partnership with the UN and in the spirit of the High Seas Treaty, Minderoo Foundation will help countries build enforcement-ready marine governance, with legal, financial, and surveillance tools to turn promises into protection.

As proved by the Fortescue Green Pioneer that has proudly sailed into Villefranche-sur-Mer to celebrate UNOC from the Southern Hemisphere, this technology is already delivering zero-emissions industrial shipping and cleaning up global trade routes.

Surface and atmospheric pollution is now ready to be resolved through green ammonia as a financeable, proven, complete shipping power system.

This is not a call for more meetings.

This is a declaration of funded, coordinated, enforceable action.

The tools exist. The time is now. Let’s deliver.

Dr Andrew Forrest AO
Founder, Minderoo Foundation

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