Kishan Khoday and Stuart Davies | The 2025 UN Ocean Conference and Jamaica

The 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference, held in Nice, France, marked a pivotal moment in the global effort to conserve and sustainably use the ocean under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.

For Jamaica, a small island developing state (SIDS) whose economy, culture, and survival are deeply intertwined with the sea, the outcomes of this conference are not just symbolic — they are a blueprint for urgent action. The declaration “Our Ocean, Our Future: United for Urgent Action” underscores the existential threats facing marine ecosystems and the need for collective, transformative action.

Jamaica must seize this moment to strengthen its national policies aligned to global commitments, leveraging international support to address climate change, marine pollution, and unsustainable fisheries while securing resilient livelihoods for its coastal communities.

JAMAICA’S OCEAN IMPERATIVE

Jamaica’s identity and livelihoods are rooted in its coastal and marine resources. The ocean contributes significantly to tourism (which accounts for 30 per cent of GDP), fisheries (employing over 40,000 people and indirectly contributing to the livelihoods of over 200,000), and biodiversity (hosting critical ecosystems like coral reefs and mangroves). A study by the Planning Institute of Jamaica estimated that the Blue Economy, which includes ocean-related activities, contributed US$2.5 billion (around 20 per cent of gross value added) in 2020 and supported more than 500,000 jobs (37 per cent of the employed labour force). Yet these resources are under siege. Rising sea levels threaten coastal infrastructure, warming waters bleach coral reefs, and plastic pollution chokes marine life. The 2025 UN Ocean Declaration explicitly recognises the disproportionate impact of these crises on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), urging the development of tailored solutions.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. Climate change and sea-level rise: The declaration highlights the global emergency of climate-driven ocean degradation, including the role of heating oceans in more severe hurricanes, impact on tourism and livelihoods from coral and ecosystem decline, acidification, and rising seas. For Jamaica, where 80 per cent of the population lives within 5km of the coast, this is an immediate threat. The document calls for enhanced adaptation finance and resilience-building - a critical need in Jamaica, which faces escalating storm surges and erosion. The conference’s nod to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea’s advisory opinion on climate impacts also strengthens the case of partners across the Caribbean for reparations and technology transfer under climate-justice frameworks.

2. 30x30 biodiversity commitment: The reaffirmation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework — to protect 30 per cent of marine areas by 2030 — aligns well with Jamaica’s own goals. The island has made significant strides with marine protected areas (MPAs) like the Portland Bight Protected Area, but only 15 per cent of its waters are currently safeguarded. The declaration’s emphasis on equitably governed MPAs and local traditional knowledge offers Jamaica a road map to expand protections while involving local fishers and communities in co-management.

3. Plastic pollution and marine waste: Jamaica generates over 800,000 tons of plastic waste annually, a sizeable proportion of which ends up in the Caribbean Sea. The conference’s push for a binding global treaty on plastic pollution (echoing UNEA Resolution 5/14) must galvanise countries across the Caribbean to fast-track bans on single-use plastics and invest in circular economies. Partnerships through initiatives like the GEF-funded iCOAST initiative led in Jamaica by UNDP will advance green solutions within coastal tourism and unlock new policies, capacities, and financing from public and private sectors towards impact for resilience of communities and the ocean.

4. Sustainable fisheries and Blue Economy: Overfishing and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing cost Jamaica at least Currency US$14 million annually. The declaration’s call for science-based fisheries management and ratification of the WTO’s Fisheries Subsidies Agreement is a direct appeal to Jamaica to tighten enforcement and support small-scale fishers. Through partnerships like the Norway-funded Blue Justice initiative between the UNDP, Jamaica, and numerous other Caribbean countries, capacities are being developed for combating IUU fishing, including through the new Jamaica-based Caribbean Blue Justice Hub. The focus on blue bonds and sustainable aquaculture presents future opportunities to diversify livelihoods while restoring fish stocks.

5. Financing and capacity building: SDG 14 remains the least-funded Sustainable Development Goal. The declaration’s demand for “scaled-up finance” is a lifeline for Jamaica, which lacks sufficient resources for advanced marine research or renewable ocean energy. Together, Jamaica and UN partners can expand outreach for grant assistance during and in follow-up to the upcoming 2025 Financing for Development Conference in Seville, targeting expanded investments like coral reef restoration and early warning systems for coastal storms.

FROM PLEDGES TO POLICY

The Nice Declaration on Oceans is only as strong as its implementation. Together with development partners like the UN, Jamaica and our other countries and territories across the Caribbean can build upon the progress they have already achieved by:

• Integrating ocean action into biodiversity and climate plans: within the ongoing UNDP-GEF-supported processes of updating its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) and formulating a new long-term climate investment plan aligned to its nationally determined contributions, include coral and mangrove restoration and the role of MPAs as carbon sinks and assets for resilience of community livelihoods.

• Strengthening regional alliances: Collaborate with CARICOM and the OECS to harmonise policies on IUU fishing and plastic bans, leveraging partnerships like the UNDP/Norway Blue Justice initiative as well as bodies like the UNEP Caribbean Environment Programme.

• Integrating ocean and coastal resilience into key sectors and future investments: prioritise green transitions within tourism, fisheries, and other coastal sectors, leveraging the growing interest within the private sector to support green investments and impacts, including through the UNDP-GEF iCOAST and other emerging platforms for action.

• Empowering local communities: Adopt the declaration’s emphasis on inclusion of traditional communities and youth by expanding programmes like the GEF/UNDP/FAO Small Grants Programme in Jamaica and the Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation’s community-led conservation efforts.

• Advocating for debt-for-nature swaps: Use Jamaica’s role in the Alliance of small island states to push for innovative financing that swaps debt for ocean conservation projects, building on recent models and lessons from Belize and The Bahamas, together having led landmark debt swaps that have unlocked close to US$500 million on newly directed investments for resilience of ocean ecosystems.

The 2025 UN Ocean Conference is a clarion call: The ocean’s decline is irreversible without bold, equitable, and immediate action. For Jamaica, the land of wood and water, the stakes could not be higher. By anchoring its policies to the Nice Declaration, Jamaica can continue to transform vulnerabilities into leadership. At this time of action, the ocean’s future is Jamaica’s future.

Dr Kishan Khoday is the resident representative for the United Nations Development Programme Multi-Country Office in Jamaica. Dr. Stuart Davies is the senior economist at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Jamaica. Send feedback to gillian.scott@undp.org and jamaica.rco@un.org.