UN Ocean Conference 2025

Your Excellencies H.E. Minister Marina Silva (Brazil) and H.E. Minister Stavros Papastavrou (Greece), the two Co-Chairs of this session, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

First allow me to thank President Macron and UNSG Guterres and Costa Rica for co-hosting this important conference. (Brazil will host COP30, and Greece hosted "Our Oceans" in 2024)

I am delighted to be here today.

We are here because there is no other option but to protect marine and coastal ecosystems from the threats of the triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. We know that business as usual, especially in the current global context, is not an option. And trade is part of the solutions we need.

A little-known fact is that one of the WTO’s fundamental goals, as enshrined in the preamble to our founding agreement, is the optimal use of the world's resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development and the protection and preservation of the environment.

The WTO has been doing its bit – and I am convinced that if we work together, we can do much more.

I want to make three points.

Key Point 1: First, our landmark Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS), which I had the honour to announce to the ocean community at UNOC2 in Lisbon, delivered on SDG 14.6. With 101 WTO Members having ratified the Agreement, we now need only ten more ratifications for it to enter into force. 

• USD 22 billion in harmful fisheries subsidies are provided every year. These contribute to the overexploitation of marine resources and can ultimately lead to the collapse of fish stocks and associated economic activities. Beyond fisheries, there are over USD 2 trillion of harmful subsidies on fossil fuels, agriculture and other purposes that could be redirected.
• The Agreement establishes new multilateral rules that prohibit the most harmful forms of fisheries subsidies, freeing up resources that could be repurposed to support practices that promote healthy fisheries, livelihoods, food security and value added.
• In addition to the BBNJ we need the AFS to enter into force.  Once two-thirds of the WTO’s 166 members formally accept the agreement, its subsidy curbs will enter into force – and so will its provisions to provide developing and least-developed countries with technical and financial support to build the capacity needed to upgrade fisheries management, integrate sustainability considerations into their fisheries policies,  and otherwise implement the new rules.
• Our donor-supported Fish Fund last week launched its first call for proposals from members seeking such support – but disbursements cannot start until we get the ten more ratifications needed for entry into force. So let me once again request WTO Members that have not yet done so to help make history by ratifying the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies as soon as possible!
• As many of you are aware, WTO Members are working to build on the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies by agreeing on additional disciplines that will disincentivize overcapacity and overfishing, and support the sustainable management of fishing resources. Here too, I urge WTO members represented here to work with each other to help us get to yes.

Key Point 2: Second, trade policy alone is not enough. The solutions we need require a coherent multisectoral approach that complements trade policy action with finance and investment to unlock inclusive, sustainable growth from the ocean economy, particularly for coastal developing countries and small island developing States.

The blue economy is estimated to have an annual value of over US$ 2.6 trillion .  More than 3 billion people either directly or indirectly rely on the oceans for their livelihoods. Over 130 million are directly employed in ocean-based roles.

Several SIDS, coastal economies and LDCs are seeking to harness the economic potential of the ocean in a sustainable manner by complementing traditional sectors such as tourism, fisheries, and seaport activities with emerging industries like marine biotechnology, energy and mineral exploration.

They have opportunities to use trade to leverage green and blue comparative advantages – springing from their abundant renewable energy potential, sustainable agriculture, and biodiversity-based ocean products – to tap into emerging sustainable value chains.

If they can harness these opportunities, it would be ‘re-globalization’ in practice: contributing to sustainable growth, diversification and job creation while making the wider global economy more inclusive and resilient.

But realizing this vision requires international cooperation to maintain an open and predictable trading environment as well as to de-risk investment. At the WTO, we have another important plurilateral Agreement the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) with 131 Members that does just this.

Key Point 3: Third, we can do more to  unlock "win-win" outcomes that leverage trade policy to support economic development while protecting ocean sustainability.

Let’s look at  a few examples. 

• One is maritime transport. Over 80 % of international trade by volume is shipped by sea.  However, shipping also estimated to account for nearly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.  There are other environmental impacts: oil spills and underwater noise pollution in sensitive maritime ecosystems; the spread of invasive alien species in ballast water and so forth.
• Trade policies can help finding solutions to these sustainability challenges. 
• For instance, as public and private stakeholders step up work to decarbonize the shipping industry, with important recent outcomes at the IMO in this regard, governments can amplify their efforts by reducing trade barriers and facilitating the cross-border diffusion of environmentally friendly goods and services for green shipping. WTO work on standards and regulations (TBT), including energy efficiency requirements and promoting international standards for low emission fuels or hydrogen, could similarly lower costs and increase scale economies.. The WTO is a forum for members to share best practices and exchange views on their approaches to reduce shipping emissions. The initiative on fossil-fuel subsidy reforms led by a group of WTO members shows an additional path to help correct incentives for emissions reduction.
• On a related subject, ocean based renewable energy has enormous potential. The global offshore wind energy market was valued at nearly USD 40 billion last year, and pilot projects are underway to harness tidal energy.
• Trade is a necessary means to diffuse renewable energy technologies and related services, particularly to small countries that may have limited domestic production capacity.

Another area where trade policy can help is plastics and marine pollution.  You all know about the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” – an area roughly the size of Mongolia. You might not know that 83 WTO members are running a Dialogue on Plastic Pollution (DPP) and environmentally sustainable plastic trade, looking at issues such as plastics value chains, customs and regulatory issues, and how trade policy could help scale up plastic substitutes. Thanks to this work, we are beginning to better understand how trade policies could play a role in helping to tackle the problem – and we have been bringing these insights to our support for the ongoing UN International Plastics Treaty Negotiations (which I’m sure Inger from UN Environment will update you on).

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen: let me conclude here, with three requests: 1) Remember that trade is part of the toolkit for the sustainability of marine and coastal ecosystems. 2) Please make sure that what your trade officials say in Geneva aligns with the positions you take in forums like this one. And 3) Please ratify the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement!

Thank you. I am looking forward to the discussion.