2025 United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC), call for nominations

UNOC supports the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 that aims to: 

This year’s conference will be held in Nice, France, from 9 to 13 June 2025 and is co-hosted by France and Costa Rica.

The theme of the conference is: accelerating action and mobilising all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.

The programme for the conference includes 10 plenary sessions and 10 ocean action panels. These will inform a planned intergovernmental declaration, the “Nice Ocean Action Plan”, along with a list of voluntary commitments.

Find out more information on priority themes for the conference:

Sustainable Development Goals

UN Ocean Conference website

Any member of the University community who can meet the criteria noted below is welcome to apply to be considered.

As participation in the conference is linked to our special consultative status with ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council of the UN) it is important that final nominees reflect a comprehensive and complementary range of expertise and experience that will contribute to the priority objectives of the conference.

We are keen for one of our nominees to be a student, if possible.

Please complete this short form to explain in no more than 200 words why you are interested in being nominated to join a potential University delegation.

The closing date for nominations is 5pm, Monday 31 March.

Your response will be considered in line with the following selection criteria:

• How does attending UNOC align with your work or study? Please reference priority themes as appropriate.
• What are your intended outcomes of participating in UNOC?
• Possible plans for engaging with strategic partners, peer networks, policymakers and government representatives and the potential for impact as a result of this.
• Plans for sharing your learning with your wider University Community.
• Agreement to attend a post-participation delegate workshop hosted by Edinburgh Global and the Edinburgh Earth Initiative on Monday 23 June. This is an important opportunity to share your learning and will inform the University report on the activity at the conference that is required by the UN to maintain our special consultative status with ECOSOC.

Please note that while attending UNOC is free of charge (i.e., there is no conference fee), delegates must arrange to cover their own travel, accommodation, and subsistence costs.

Please note this is a two-stage selection process:

1. stage one involves selection by the University in line with the above criteria
2. stage two requires selection by the UN.

Only nominees who pass both stages will be eligible to attend.

The selection processes will be coordinated by the University COP (Conference of the Parties) Strategy Group. This group’s remit is to ensure a strategic approach to how the University engages with UN-level activities and meetings in the areas of climate, biodiversity and the ocean. A sub-group of the strategy group with representation from Edinburgh Global, the Edinburgh Earth Initiative and an academic with relevant disciplinary expertise will be responsible for the selection of nominees.

The closing date for applications to be considered as a University representative is 5pm Monday 31 March.

Selected individuals will be sent the UN Indico registration link along with the required institutional letter of support by Friday 11 April. The deadline for registration with UN Indico is 2 May (11:59 pm EDT).

Conference of the Parties

Please send any questions to: earth@ed.ac.uk; use the subject line: 'UNOC Nomination Process’.