Statsraad Lehmkuhl is moored in the Nice harbor as a striking presence and a meeting point throughout the UN Ocean Conference.
From June 9 to 13, 2025, world leaders, scientists, civil society, and the private sector gather in Nice, France, for the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3).
The conference aims to accelerate efforts to protect the marine environment and manage ocean resources sustainably.
A global crisis
The ocean is facing a threefold crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. More than 8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year, and over one-third of the world’s fish stocks are overfished. In addition, ocean acidification, rising sea levels, and the destruction of marine ecosystems threaten both ocean life and human livelihoods.
Even if we manage to halt the damage, it could take between 100 and 200 years for destroyed marine environments to recover fully—if left to nature alone—according to Professor Roberto Danovaro of the Marche Polytechnic University in Ancona, Italy.
In other words, time is short, and the ocean needs our help.
Below: The rosette is deployed to collect water samples and register the temperature and salinity down in the ocean.
Main goals
The conference has three main goals:
- Finalize agreements on the conservation and sustainable management of international ocean areas. Before the conference started, 28 of 60 countries had signed.
- Secure funding and political support for concrete actions that both protect the marine environment and create sustainable jobs and value based on ocean resources.
- Make ocean knowledge easier to understand and use, so that politicians and decision-makers can make better choices. This also means investing more in ocean research and education.
Norway’s role
The Norwegian delegation is led by Minister of International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, accompanied by representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Climate and Environment, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), Norwegian businesses, and NGOs.
During the conference, Norway and France became the first countries to sign a convention to establish a new international center for ocean monitoring.
This ocean center will be an intergovernmental organization tasked with developing and utilizing digital systems to observe and understand the ocean. It will also contribute to knowledge about how climate change affects the marine environment.
Sufficient support
The first main goal of UNOC3 was reached already on the first day of the conference.
- The international treaty on the high seas, which focuses on conservation and sustainable use of maritime areas beyond national jurisdictions, has received sufficient support to take effect early in 2026, French President Emmanuel Macron said on a press conference.
55 countries' ratifications of the treaty have been completed, around 15 are in progress with a definite date, and another 15 will be completed by the end of the year, meaning that the required 60 ratifications will be achieved.
Progress os also made for goal number two. Meeting in Monaco, philanthropists, private investors and public banks committed 8.7 billion euros over five years to support concrete actions that protect the marine environment and create sustainable jobs and value based on ocean resources.
A Royal Visit
On June 7, the ship left the port of Nice for a short voyage to the neighboring city of Monaco. On board was Marit Warncke, the mayor of Statsraad Lehmkuhl’s home city, Bergen. Bergen has been an important port city for centuries and hopes to host the Ocean Decade Conference in 2030.
On the return to Nice on June 8 - United Nations World Oceans Day - Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria joined the voyage, along with India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences, Norwegian government ministers, diplomats, oceanographers, scientists, ambassadors, and One Ocean Expedition -partners.
A floating focal point
Throughout the conference week, Statsraad Lehmkuhl serves as a floating arena for knowledge exchange, science communication, and international collaboration. The onboard program is packed with conferences, receptions, and workshops.
One particularly special and important event is the launch of "Minecraft: Ocean Heroes Edition" - a new version of the well-known game, developed to engage children and youth in topics related to the ocean and sustainability.
The launch took place on board Lehmkuhl, with French schoolchildren - and Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon - in attendance.
Ambassador of a new coalition
During the conference, Statsraad Lehmkuhl is appointed as an official ambassador for the Ocean Rise & Coastal Resilience Coalition - a new international initiative aimed at strengthening cooperation between coastal cities and regions facing shared challenges linked to sea level rise and climate change.
Below are photos taken on the trip from Nice to Monaco and back, and in Nice. All photos: Matteo Baratella.
To the Azores
June 13 Statsraad Lehmkuhl leaves Nice and continue on first to the Azores, then to Nuuk in Greenland, and in August - through the Northwest passage and into the Pacific ocean.
