Photo: Collected

 
DHAKA, June 15, 2025 (BSS) - In a joint ‘Business Call to Action’ more than 80 businesses and supporting organisations from 25 countries, including 55 businesses representing over €600 billion in turnover and 2 million employees, urged both private and public decision-makers to strengthen global cooperation and accelerate action to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.

The call is convened by an unprecedented coalition of business networks, supported by signatories, including 80 businesses, said a press release here today. 

In anticipation of the upcoming 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, the call builds on the experience of leading businesses and organisations already advancing a sustainable blue economy. 

It emphasises the intrinsic connection between land and sea, highlighting the contribution and interdependencies between coastal and marine environment and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

 This call is directed at all economic actors, whether directly or indirectly connected to the ocean, and includes: A call to action for businesses to expedite maintaining ocean health through business actions, such as contributions to ocean science, monitoring and reducing environmental impacts, incorporating ocean considerations into their climate and nature roadmaps and investing in blue solutions; A call to action for policy makers to pursue ambitious science-driven policies and measures that stimulate sustainable business action and to jointly address land and ocean for enhanced global resilience.

 With this’ Business Call to Action’, companies and business networks urge policymakers to: Agree to adopt and implement international agreements: champion strong, sustainable outcomes for existing and upcoming ocean-related agreements; Invest in ocean science and support strong science-policy interfaces; Acknowledge and embed into policies the links between ocean, nature and climate; Help all actors to collectively adapt to sea-level rise; Develop robust and innovative finance mechanisms & Raise awareness to encourage all actors to care for the ocean, even those based on land.

The ‘Business Call to Action’ is convened by global and leading business networks including International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), World Economic Forum (WEF), We Mean Business Coalition (WMB), Business for Nature (BfN), Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF), UN Global Compact Network France and Association française des Entreprises pour l’ Environnement (EpE).