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Brazil and France have launched a new initiative to bring oceans to the heart of climate action at the third instalment of the United Ocean Conference (UNOC3) being held in Nice, France, between June 9 and June 13, 2025.
The ‘Blue NDC Challenge’ urges countries to incorporate ocean-focused climate measures into their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) ahead of the 30th Conference of Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Belem, Brazil. NDCs are national climate plans that outline a country’s efforts to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change under the Paris Agreement adopted by 195 Parties at UNFCCC COP21 in Paris, France, on December 12, 2015, to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Six other countries—Australia, Fiji, Kenya, Mexico, Palau, and the Republic of Seychelles—have joined the initiative, committing to including ocean-focused climate action in their updated NDCs. The deadline for the third set of NDCs for 2035 was February 10, 2025. Only 21 countries of the 195 parties have made their submissions this year.
“For Brazil, the Blue NDC Challenge represents a key opportunity to strengthen ocean-related climate action and to emphasise the essential role of ocean-based solutions in achieving emission reduction targets. Through this initiative, Brazil seeks to advance international cooperation on ocean climate action in the lead-up to COP30, and to underscore the need for all countries to fully integrate the ocean into their national climate strategies,” Marina Silva, Brazil’s minister for the environment and climate change, said in a statement.
Brazil’s NDC for 2035, submitted in November 2024, notes that the Brazilian Climate Plan will include the topic of the Ocean and Coastal Zones for the first time. Given oceans’ role for sustainable development and regulation of climate stability, the Brazilian government said it would include Marine Spatial Planning and Integrated Coastal Zone Management, mangroves and coral reefs in the Adaptation Plan.
These nations have committed to actions such as sustainably managing and restoring marine ecosystems through marine spatial planning, integrated coastal zone management, and climate-smart marine protected areas. They also aim to phase out offshore oil and gas, expand clean ocean energy, reduce emissions in maritime sectors such as offshore wind, wave, and tidal power, cutting emissions and strengthening resilience in maritime sectors, including shipping and seafood value chains, and supporting sustainable, climate-resilient fisheries and aquaculture to ensure long-term ocean health and food security.
“Brazil is showing leadership as the country hosting the climate COP and taking the oceans along. We do not want to lose focus on oceans. We hope to see oceans being an important topic to be discussed at COP30,” Ashleigh McGovern, senior vice President, Center for Oceans at Conservation International told Down To Earth.
She noted that is it critical for countries to include oceans in their NDCs. “Mangroves sequester carbon at a rate 10 times faster than their terrestrial counterparts. Other coastal ecosystems like salt marshes are not only important for mitigation but also adaptation,” she added.
Including oceans in NDCs, she explained, opens a pathway for more political and financial support. “We are working with other partners involved in the Global Mangrove Alliance to develop guides and best practices to help countries include language on ocean-focused climate action in the NDCs and how countries can implement them,” she said. Launched in 2017, the Global Mangrove Alliance is a collaboration that seeks to bring together non-profits, governments, scientists, industry, local communities, and funders towards a common goal of conserving and restoring mangrove ecosystems.
For example, governments that join the Blue NDC Challenge can receive support from various actors, including the Ocean Breakthroughs led by the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, the UN High-Level Climate Champions, and the NDC Partnership hosted by World Resources Institute.
On June 8, 2025, the Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a $6.8 million investment to strengthen Brazil’s conservation of ocean and coastal ecosystem. “We cannot protect the climate without protecting the ocean,” Ana Toni, COP30 CEO, said in a statement.
Tom Pickerell, who is Global Director of the Ocean Program at World Resources Institute and Head of the Secretariat for the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, noted that ocean-based climate solutions can deliver up to 35 per cent of the emissions reductions needed to keep 1.5°C within reach.
“But we are running out of time to maximise the ocean’s potential. That’s why countries must place the ocean at the heart of their climate strategies,” the expert added.