UN Oceans Conference Fails To Cite Human Overpopulation

As the 2025 UN Oceans Conference gets underway in Nice, France, it appears that one of the primary root causes of ocean decline will not be discussed this week.

The overarching theme of this week’s Conference, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, is ‘Accelerating action and mobilising all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean’. It brings together Governments, the United Nations system, and other international bodies with a stake in ocean health, all aiming to agree on the implementation of ongoing processes that contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of the world’s oceans.

Over-fishing, plastic pollution, climate change, and the extraction of precious minerals from the sea bed, will all be discussed during the course of the week. Yet none of the agendas appear to suggest that the Conference will be confronting human overpopulation, one of the main drivers behind these environmental emergencies.

A key aim of the UN Oceans Conference is to get 60 countries to ratify a ‘High Seas Treaty’, allowing it to be brought into force.

The agreement was made in principle two years ago and aims to put 30 per cent of international waters into marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2030, helping to preserve ecosystems and enable them to recover.

But even if enough countries sign, there are concerns from environmentalists, including Sir David Attenborough, that there is nothing explicit in the Treaty to ban bottom trawling in these MPAs.

Bottom trawling, responsible for a quarter of all global catch every year, is one of the more destructive fishing practices and leads to the ‘accidental’ killing of larger, and often endangered, marine species.

Declining ocean fish stocks are just one notable casualty of human population growth. It is estimated that 85% of global fisheries have now been fished out or are in catastrophic, terminal decline.

Before the UN Oceans Conference began, TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough was interviewed by Prince William, The Prince of Wales. During their conversation he stressed that he was “appalled” by the damage certain fishing methods are wreaking on the world’s oceans.

“What we have done to the deep ocean floor is just unspeakably awful,” Sir David Attenborough said. “If you did anything remotely like it on land, everybody would be up in arms.”

The interview was conducted at the premiere of Attenborough’s new documentary, Ocean, last month. The documentary draws attention to the potential damage from some fishing practices, like bottom trawling, for marine life and the ability of the oceans to lock in planet-warming carbon.

He added that he hopes the leaders gathering for the UN Oceans Conference will “realise how much the oceans matter to all of us, the citizens of the world”.

Sir David is one of the few high profile environmental campaigners to actually voice concerns over human population growth, previously stating: “As I see it, humanity needs to reduce its impact on the Earth urgently and there are three ways to achieve this: we can stop consuming so many resources, we can change our technology and we can reduce the growth of our population”.

It remains to be seen if any of the prominent attendees at this week’s UN Oceans Conference will be equally as candid about one of the primary causes of ocean decline.

Submitted by Friends of Retha


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