Ocean and Human Rights Session on the training sailboat "Statsraad Lehmkuhl"

19 June 2025
# Human Rights # Ocean

On June 7, 2025, during the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3), Nathalie Komatitsch, president and founder of Knowing & Acting, initiated and coordinated, with members of the Ocean and Human Rights platform, an Ocean and Human Rights session entitled “One Ocean Equity: The Right to a Healthy, Sustainable Ocean for All.”* It was held aboard the Norwegian training ship “Statsraad Lehmkuhl,” between Nice and Monaco.

This Ocean and Human Rights session was included as part of a program organized by the municipality of Bergen around three themes: 1) young scientists’ perspectives on the ocean, 2) the contribution of coastal cities to the protection and respect of the ocean, and 3) human rights and the ocean.

 

The session made a lasting impression on the participants thanks to the quality of the discussions, its audience and its setting: more than 100 people, including representatives from the municipality of Nice, NGOs, etc., sailing in an exceptional setting between Nice and Monaco, in calm and sunny weather, to listen to and discuss the links between the ocean and human rights, and the need to listen to the voices of coastal communities; with speakers including Ms. Marit Warncke, Mayor of Bergen, Mr. Vidar Helgesen, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC), Ms. Astrid Puentes Riaño, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, author of the report "The Ocean and Human Rights," guest speaker, and members of the Ocean and Human Rights platform: the director of the Norwegian Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, Mr. Jostein Kobbeltvedt; Ms. Frances House, Senior Advisor at the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB); Dr. Jament Johnson, director and founder of BlueGreen Coastal Resources, a social enterprise representing fishing communities in the province of Kerala, India, and Mr. Nnimmo Bassey, director of the HOMEF Foundation, from Nigeria. Peter Haugan, one of the lead experts of the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, professor of oceanography and geophysics at the University of Bergen, and former president of the IOC, and Nathalie Komatitsch moderated the sessions. The city of Bergen is a member of the Coalition of coastal regions and cities, created and chaired by the city of Nice and its mayor, Christian Estrosi, which formed one of the four main pillars of UNOC 3.

It seemed essential to us to highlight, within a United Nations conference on the ocean, moreover co-organized by France, the link between ocean protection, the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)14 and respect for human rights in activities which are related to the ocean.

 

Key takeaways:

  • A proactive speech by Vidar Elgesen on the links between human rights and the ocean, and the need to protect and respect both together for a sustainable ocean for all, emphasizing that economic and societal issues should not be seen as opposing forces, as they complement each other for a sustainable approach;
  • A summary of the main ideas from her December 2024 report on the ocean and human rights by Astrid Puentes Riaño, stating that "actions for the ocean must be rooted in human rights," and highly motivating remarks to develop collaborations, build relationships with stakeholders on the ground, with an ever-growing number of human rights defenders, and with the Ocean and Human Rights Platform;
  • Testimonies from the field by member organizations of the Ocean and Human Rights Platform;
  • A presentation of the Ocean and Human Rights platform by Frances House;
  • A reminder of the ongoing creation of an ocean and human rights center in Bergen, the "One Ocean Human Rights Center," by the director of the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights.

 

Participants emphasized the value of the session, both for the topics it addressed and the exchanges it facilitated among speakers and within the audience. They expressed their hope that such exchanges would continue and be replicated. Further collaboration is anticipated between institutional and international actors (UN, UNESCO, etc.) and local stakeholders representing communities impacted by industrial projects, such as the members of the Ocean and Human Rights platform.

 

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