30 Jun 2025
Over 80 businesses and networks joined an ICC-led declaration at UNOC3, urging urgent action to protect ocean health as key to climate resilience and economic prosperity. The Business Call to Action outlines commitments and policy asks to scale sustainable ocean solutions and is open for more support.
Over 80 businesses and networks unite behind ICC-led declaration to protect ocean health and strengthen global resilience.
As the Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) concluded earlier this month in Nice, the global business community made its voice heard with a clear message: safeguarding the ocean is essential to economic prosperity and climate resilience.
In a joint Business Call to Action, more than 80 organisations from 25 countries—including 55 businesses representing over €600 billion in turnover and more than 2 million employees—urged both public and private actors to accelerate action to conserve and sustainably use the ocean. The initiative was co-convened by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), alongside key partners including the UN Global Compact, the World Economic Forum, Business for Nature, and the We Mean Business Coalition.
📄 Read the full Call to Action
The Ocean Economy: Vital and Vulnerable
The ocean supports over 3 billion people with food and livelihoods, facilitates 80% of global trade, and carries 95% of international data traffic. It also plays a critical role in regulating the climate and sustaining biodiversity. Yet its health is increasingly under threat.
UNOC3 produced a high-level declaration and strong commitments on marine protection, sustainable fisheries, and marine pollution. But as ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO noted, "We now need to match ambition with action." The Business Call to Action provides a framework for doing just that.
Business Commitments
The Call to Action highlights how businesses—regardless of whether they operate on land or at sea—can support ocean health and contribute to a thriving blue economy. Recommended actions include:
Integrating ocean considerations into climate and nature strategies
Contributing to ocean science and data-sharing
Reducing pollution and promoting circularity across value chains
Scaling investment in ocean innovation and sustainable blue finance
Supporting a just transition, including skills and livelihoods for coastal communities
Raising awareness and making the ocean a shared responsibility
From clean shipping and offshore energy to blue biotechnologies and eco-tourism, companies are already moving—but the declaration urges faster, broader action.
Policy Priorities
To scale impact, the private sector also calls on governments to:
Ratify and implement key agreements on fisheries subsidies, deep-sea mining, plastics, and climate-smart shipping
Integrate ocean targets into national climate and biodiversity plans
Invest in ocean science and strengthen science-policy interfaces
Develop robust and innovative financing mechanisms—such as blended finance and blue bonds
Plan for long-term coastal adaptation and sea-level rise
With these steps, governments can help unlock the full potential of ocean-positive business models and strengthen economic and climate resilience worldwide.
What’s Next
The Business Call to Action remains open for additional signatures and serves as a concrete contribution to the post-UNOC3 momentum. ICC and its partners will continue to amplify business leadership and push for the enabling frameworks needed to deliver real-world results.
A healthy ocean is the foundation for a resilient economy. Let’s work together to protect it—on land and at sea (John W.H. Denton AO, ICC Secretary General).