Advocacy: Bringing the Ocean into UNEP's Medium-Term Strategy 2026–2029
Planetary Collaboration contributed to the consultation process for the United Nations Environment Programme's new Medium-Term Strategy, advocating for greater recognition of the ocean in the organization's strategic priorities.
Between 2024 and 2025, Planetary Collaboration contributed to the consultation process for the development of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Medium-Term Strategy for 2026–2029.
The contribution highlighted the importance of explicitly recognizing the ocean in UNEP's strategic framework, including the environmental, economic and social dimensions of ocean-related activities. It also called attention to issues associated with the energy transition, including offshore and tidal energy generation, hydrocarbon exploration, seabed extraction and the impacts of these activities on coastal communities and small island populations.
The previous Medium-Term Strategy for 2022–2025 already addressed marine ecosystems and the blue economy in its detailed programme of work. However, the ocean was not explicitly identified in the wording of its strategic objective on living in harmony with nature.
The new Medium-Term Strategy establishes a more explicit place for the ocean. Under Strategic Objective 2, UNEP identifies the objective of:
"Living in harmony with Nature: land, ocean and freshwater; and achieving land degradation neutrality."
This objective is one of the three strategic objectives guiding UNEP's work for 2026–2029. The ocean is also reflected in the Nature Action subprogramme, one of the seven subprogrammes supporting the implementation of the Strategy.
During exchanges with UNEP's Strategic Planning Unit within the Policy and Programme Division, Planetary Collaboration received confirmation that the issue had been raised through several contributions to the consultation process. The Unit explained:
"The importance of explicitly referencing the Ocean in the strategy has indeed been raised multiple times, and as you have seen, 'Ocean' has been emphasized throughout the document, including in one of the strategic objectives and in the name of a subprogramme."
The consultation process also generated a synthesis report documenting contributions from major groups, the private sector and Multilateral Environmental Agreement secretariats. Among its messages, Key Message 2 from the dialogue with Multilateral Environmental Agreements called for attention to critical and precious metals, deep-sea mining and the global energy transition, connecting these issues with broader United Nations efforts and relevant social considerations.
These discussions reflect a collective effort by organizations and stakeholders to ensure that ocean-related issues receive appropriate consideration in environmental policy and strategic planning.
Planetary Collaboration recognizes the contributions of the organizations and stakeholders involved in this process and welcomes the more explicit recognition of the ocean in UNEP's Medium-Term Strategy. The inclusion provides a clearer basis for addressing the relationship between ocean protection, economic activities, energy transition and the communities that depend on marine ecosystems.
References
UNEP, Medium-Term Strategy for 2026–2029. Read the Strategy.
UNEP, Medium-Term Strategy 2022–2025. Read the previous Strategy.
UNEP/CPR/169/3, Synthesis Report: Informal Dialogue Session with Major Groups, Private Sectors and Multilateral Environmental Agreement Secretariat on the Development of UNEP's Medium-Term Strategy 2026–2029, 11 March 2025. Read the report.
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