A delegation from the Committee of the Regions of the European Union (EU) traveled to Nice to participate in the United Nations Conference on the Oceans of 2025 and ensure that European coastal regions and cities occupy a central place in the global response to climate change adaptation and the impact on the oceans.
The Conference, which will be held in the French coastal city starting next Monday, aims to accelerate measures for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans.
“Local and regional authorities, which are on the front lines, must be recognized as essential partners and entrusted with both the responsibility and the means to help restore marine ecosystems, promote sustainable blue economies and build coastal resilience,” said Mätta Ivarsson, member of the Council of the Skåne Region (Sweden) in a statement.
To this end, the Summit on Sea Level Rise and Coastal Resilience, an event organized on the eve of the Conference that took place last Friday, inaugurated a global initiative that brings together coastal cities and regions to address rising sea levels and other impacts of climate change.
The so-called Coalition on Sea Level Rise and Coastal Resilience "aspires to bring together 1,000 cities and regions representing 1 billion people to increase collective resilience and develop shared adaptation strategies," according to the statement.
“Looking ahead to COP30, we must strengthen multi-level governance to ensure that local and regional authorities fully play their role in protecting marine ecosystems, promoting blue innovation and resilience to climate change. The time to act is now, and it must be inclusive,” added Nadia Pellefigue, vice-president of the French region of Occitania.
During the presentation of the European Ocean Pact by the European Commission last Thursday, the European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, stressed that one of the priorities of the pact will be to support coastal, island and outermost regions - including the Canary Islands - to "promote their unique assets and strengthen sustainable international management of the oceans to better preserve marine biological resources."
The members of the delegation to Nice of the Committee of the Regions of the EU, which includes the general director of Foreign Relations and with the European Union of the Xunta de Galicia, Jesús Gamallo Aller, will meet next Thursday with the European Commissioner.
The Conference will conclude on Friday, June 13 with the approval of the Nice Ocean Action Plan, in which the Committee of the Regions of the EU will advocate for "multi-level governance, ensuring that local and regional authorities fully participate in the development of ocean-related policies that reflect local needs."
