But as a cacophony of ship foghorns sounded the close of the UN Ocean Conference in France, a lack of funding pledges and the total omission of fossil fuels disappointed some observers.
The summit was just the third -- and largest yet -- dedicated entirely to what the United Nations calls an "emergency" in the world's oceans.
More than 60 heads of state and government joined thousands of business leaders, scientists and environmental campaigners over five days in the southern city of Nice.
- Treaty tide -
There was unanimous praise for efforts to ratify the high seas treaty designed to protect marine life in the 60 percent of oceans that lie beyond national waters.
Some 19 countries formally ratified the pact at Nice, taking the overall tally to 50 -- but 60 nations are needed to bring the treaty into force.
France's oceans envoy, Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, said the numbers would be reached by September and the treaty should take effect by January, 2026.
Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance, welcomed the "incredible progress" but urged "all remaining nations to ratify without delay".
The summit sought a collective lift for oceans even as countries brace for tough talks over deep-sea mining in July and a plastic pollution treaty in August.
More than 90 ministers called in Nice for the treaty to enshrine limits on plastic production -- something fiercely opposed by oil-producing nations.
The summit also rallied behind a defence of science and rules-based oversight of common resources -- most notably the unknown depths of the oceans -- in a direct rebuke of US President Donald Trump.
Trump was not present in Nice and rarely mentioned by name, but his shadow loomed as leaders thundered against his unilateral push to mine the ocean floor for nickel and minerals.
- Seabed row -
France and like-minded countries vowed to block any effort to permit deep-sea exploration at negotiations over a mining code at the International Seabed Authority next month, said Poivre d'Arvor.
"Nobody knows what is there in the deep sea... you cannot launch recklessly down this path," he said in a closing address.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged caution, warning against turning the deep sea into "the wild west".
Leaders "made it unmistakably clear: deep-sea mining is one of the biggest threats facing our ocean, and the world is saying no", said Sofia Tsenikli from the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.
But for all the rhetoric, a global alliance opposed to deep-sea mining only attracted four new members at Nice, rising to 37 nations.
- Missing billions -
Greece, Samoa and Colombia were among 14 nations who unveiled plans for vast new marine protected areas, taking the share of the world's oceans under conservation to more than 10 percent.
Some also announced restrictions on bottom trawling, a destructive fishing method captured in grisly detail in a new David Attenborough documentary.
Activists had pushed for a total ban on this kind of trawling, which uses heavy weighted nets dragged across the ocean floor.
Developing nations hoping their larger and wealthier counterparts would open the chequebook in Nice were disappointed.
Small island nations in particular have long complained they lack the finances required to build seawalls against rising tides and protect their waters from illegal fishers.
While private donors pledged around 8.7 billion euros ($10 billion) over the next five years, the UN says $175 billion a year is needed for sustainable ocean development.
Fossil fuels -- the main driver of climate change, ocean warming and the acidification of the seas -- were notably absent for a summit dedicated to marine protection.
"Ignoring the imperative of phasing out offshore oil and gas is not just an injustice: it is inadmissible," said Bruna Campos from the Center for International Environmental Law.
The summit closed with the unanimous adoption of a political statement, negotiated over many months, that contained no mention of coal, oil and gas.
"We must all reckon with the reality that you cannot protect the ocean without confronting the biggest root cause bringing it to the breaking point," former US special climate envoy John Kerry said in a statement.
Startups show off ocean-preserving tech at Paris trade fair
Paris (AFP) June 13, 2025 -
Harnessing ocean currents to boost fuel efficiency of vessels, or tracking whales using sensor data and AI -- startups at Paris trade fair Vivatech have been showing off the latest innovations aimed at protecting the environment.
Recently developed AI programs capable of learning from vast datasets have boosted projects trying to understand and predict real-world phenomena, several company founders told AFP.
"We have to use AI because in the natural world there are too many variables" to deal with manually, said Emily Charry Tissier, a biologist and founder of Canadian startup Whale Seeker, which is developing technology to track sea mammals.
Powered by "neural network" systems that ape the functioning of the human brain, the learning systems behind today's AI models "can calculate a weather forecast 1,000 times faster than a standard digital model running on a supercomputer", agreed oceanographer Alexandre Stegner.
He flagged an AI model developed by his firm, Amphitrite, that he said could predict ocean currents by crunching "several layers of satellite data corresponding to different physical variables".
It can forecast currents up to 10 days in advance, he said, offering sea captains "a simple way to save fuel" by slightly changing course and using currents to gain a speed boost of up to four knots.
That could save operators money on fuel, reduce the carbon emissions from shipping, and avoid the classic solution of telling sea captains to reduce their speed.
- Global protection push -
Technologies like these were being shown off in the halls of Vivatech as the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC) drew to a close hundreds of kilometres to the south in French Mediterranean city Nice.
The conference has pushed a treaty to protect 60 percent of the world's oceans closer to becoming law, with 55 signatures -- just five shy of the number required for its enactment.
New technologies could be "a very good thing" for the oceans, said Andre Abreu, International Affairs Director at the Paris-based Tara Ocean Foundation.
But he warned that innovation should not be harnessed to allow more fish to be caught.
"That would mean shooting ourselves in the foot" on goals like preserving marine biodiversity, he said.
That ambiguity can be seen in technology from OceanEyes, a Japanese startup using AI analysis of satellite data to predict sea conditions.
The company hopes to cut the time fishing boats spend tracking down a catch.
"A big problem in Japan is the efficiency of the fishery operations. Many fishers spend a lot of time searching for fish in the water," said boss Yusuke Tanaka.
With less fuel burnt, operators will save money and greenhouse emissions can be slashed.
Anticipating concerns about overfishing, OceanEyes said it also aimed to help vessels comply with recently updated Japanese regulations that oblige fishers to "ensure sustainable use of marine resources".
- 'Can' vs 'should' -
Whale Seeker's Tissier said technology could be used in a considered way to find sustainable solutions.
"I'd like the market to recognise its own limits -- not the limits of what we can do, but what we should do," she told AFP.
That attitude pushed her to refuse to work with a company that wanted to use whale detection to identify nearby fish to catch.
But startups cannot grow without funding and, in the context of oceans, investments are likely to come from big firms keen to make a saving -- from fishing and ship management companies to haulage and logistics giants.
This could well limit their ability to stand on principle.
Stegner called for "regulations that would push the maritime sector to reduce carbon emissions".
But Charry Tissier said the initiative could come from business.
"Technology is developing so much faster than regulation... what I'd like is for big companies to decide for themselves to be responsible," she said.
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