Climate Action Merribek has joined with over 200 civil society organisations in a statement for the UN Oceans Conference about to meet in Nice, France. It is an open letter addressed to all governments including Australia, demanding that governments:

Stop offshore oil and gas exploration and exploitation.
Commit to ambitious, effective and strong ocean protection measures.

Offshore fossil fuel exploration is fundamentally incompatible with efforts to tackle the climate crisis, end pollution and halt marine biodiversity loss.

Update: The statement was presented by OceanCare during a Plenary of the Conference on June 12. Verbal statement below. See also Climate Citizen: UN Oceans Conference: Australia commits to 30% highly protected marine areas by 2030, signs on to High Seas Biodiversity Treaty, Blue NDC Challenge for reporting what Australia committed to at the conference.

Approval of North West Shelf

We note that last week Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt gave provisional approval of the North West Shelf Gas Extension to 2070. This project is a climate bomb and runs counter to this statement. Existing gas plant pollution is already damaging the iconic, up to 50,000 year old, Murujuga rock landscape. North West Shelf extension will enable development of drilling in the Browse Gas Basin and damage the pristine marine environment around Scott Reef.

Woodside says a damaging oil spill from its planned drilling near Scott Reef is “only a mere theoretical possibility”, yet just weeks ago in early May accidentally released a cocktail of hydrocarbons, chemicals and water into the Indian Ocean north of Ningaloo Reef. We note that Woodside spilled an estimated 16,000 litres of hydrocarbons into the ocean off the Pilbara coast on May 8 while cleaning up the Griffin oil and gas field abandoned by BHP in 2009. (Boiling Cold)

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in the Net-zero by 2050 roadmap in 2021 that we need to end approvals for all new fossil fuel projects. (ClimateWorks) Labor’s approval of North West Shelf is a denial of climate science and energy advice.

The international civil society coalition emphasises that continued offshore fossil fuel exploration is fundamentally incompatible with meeting the Paris Agreement’s climate targets and protecting marine biodiversity.

Current exploration activities involve the use of airguns that produce some of the loudest human-generated noise in the marine environment, causing severe harm to marine wildlife from the smallest zooplankton to the largest whales.

The letter calls on governments to commit to transitioning away from fossil fuels by prohibiting all new exploration activities for fossil fuels in areas within and beyond national jurisdiction, in line with the objective agreed at the COP28 climate conference.

With the conference due to begin on 9 June, the organisations are urging governments to incorporate such a commitment into the Declaration, which will chart a course for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 13 and 14. Consistency requires keeping fossil fuels in the ground by immediately ending the exploration of new hydrocarbon deposits, which would strengthen the link between marine conservation and climate action.

You can read the full open letter, with all its signatories here: https://www.oceancare.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/UNOC3-NGO-Coalition-Letter-to-Governments.pdf

Update 15 June – Presentation by OceanCare

OceanCare presented during a plenary of the conference with the following statement:

PLENARY. 12.06.2025 INTERVENTION by OceanCare, Nicolas Entrup, Director of International Relations

I deliver this statement on behalf of OceanCare and many global civil society coalitions, representing hundreds of organisations and millions of constituents worldwide.

Scientific evidence shows clearly that we are in a climate emergency. And yet, offshore oil and gas exploration continues. This industry not only contributes a disproportionate level to climate change, but also ocean destruction from chemical and noise pollution.

Despite clear warnings from the IPCC and the UN Emissions Gap Report, we remain trapped in a pattern of systemic contradiction—acknowledging that fossil fuels account for the vast majority of global emissions, endorsing the science, declaring commitments, yet continuing to license new offshore hydrocarbon exploration.

There is a word for this: incoherence. This is not a policy gap. It is a governance failure.

And it is happening despite the clear objectives and targets set under SDG 13 and SDG14.

Offshore fossil fuel development is not a bridge. It is a breach—of scientific guidance, legal obligations, and intergenerational trust. Agenda 2030 is a mere 5 years away. The incoherence must end. And it must end now.

On behalf of the 200+ international NGOs who co-signed the open letter to this Conference, we call on States to commit to:

• A global prohibition on new offshore oil and gas exploration activities, and
• A just and expedited phaseout of existing offshore extraction;

In addition, OceanCare provides a 6-Point Action Plan how the objectives of SDG14 can be achieved within our written statement.

UNOC3 must not produce another well-meaning Declaration. It must set a precedent, to truly move from words to action, to implement truly effective measures for the protection of the oceans. The science is clear. The path is clear. What is missing is genuine political commitment and implementation.

We need change. Because our Planet is Blue.

The Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) will be held in Nice, France, from June 9-13, 2025. Co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, this high-level conference focuses on accelerating the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water). UNOC3 provides a crucial opportunity for governments to commit to concrete actions for ocean protection and address the interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

UN Briefing Press Conference on UN Oceans Conference:

References

25 May 2021, Climate Works, International Energy Agency report calls for an end to new fossil fuel investment, adding pressure for Australia to raise ambition https://www.climateworkscentre.org/news/international-energy-agency-report-calls-for-an-end-to-new-fossil-fuel-investment-adding-pressure-for-australia-to-raise-ambition/

26 May 2025, Boiling Cold, Woodside spills 16,000 litres of oil into ocean north of Ningaloo https://www.boilingcold.com.au/woodside-spills-16-000-litres-of-oil-into-ocean-north-of-ningaloo/

3 June 2025 – Ocean Care – Over 200 NGOs Call for Urgent Action on Offshore Fossil Fuel Exploration Ahead of UN Conference in Nice https://www.oceancare.org/en/stories_and_news/over-200-ngos-call-for-urgent-action-on-offshore-fossil-fuel-exploration-ahead-of-un-conference-in-nice/

14 June 2025, Climate Citizen, – UN Oceans Conference: Australia commits to 30% highly protected marine areas by 2030, signs on to High Seas Biodiversity Treaty, Blue NDC Challenge https://takvera.blogspot.com/2025/06/un-oceans-conference-australia-commits.html