**UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL**
**58th session**
**Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment**
**14 March 2025**
**EU Statement**
Mr President,
The European Union and its Members States thank the Special Rapporteur for the presentation of her latest report and her work related to the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
The alarming deterioration of ocean health is of grave concern, as the preservation of Earth’s delicate ecological balance depends on its vitality. We acknowledge the devastating cumulative impacts of the triple planetary crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution – on the ocean, leading to further deterioration of marine ecosystems, as well as adverse impacts on human rights that disproportionately affect women and Indigenous Peoples.
The EU and its Members States remain deeply committed to advancing global partnerships and policies in order to protect and conserve the ocean. We emphasize the necessity of holistic, comprehensive, and integrated approaches – with human rights, gender responsiveness, and ecosystem-based principles fully integrated – to achieve this goal.
Through both internal and external policies, the EU and its Members States strive to establish a cohesive strategic framework for ocean governance across all sectors.
Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14) serves as the cornerstone of our ocean policy, guiding our actions to conserve and sustainably use marine ecosystems. The third UN Ocean Conference to take place in Nice, France in June 2025 will be a historic opportunity to reinforce global ocean governance and implement SDG 14.
Madame Special Rapporteur,
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea sets out the legal framework within which the activities in the oceans and seas are carried out. Your report also refers to numerous agreements, treaties, and conventions highlighting the importance of preserving the ocean biodiversity and ecosystems as well as the marine environment, which reaffirm states' obligations to protect it. Strong governance structures are necessary for the effective ocean stewardship – and to fulfilling our shared obligations.
In this context, how can States most effectively enhance ocean governance, particularly in addressing the challenges posed by fragmented legal frameworks?
I thank you.