The third United Nations Oceans Conference (UNOC3) has concluded in Nice, France, at which Anglicans were represented as part of the multifaith group, Faiths for UNOC3.

Revd Glenn Ruffle, the Anglican Communion's UN Representative in Geneva, attended the conference as part of the Faiths for UNOC3 group and was part of the delegation who presented a collaborative declaration signed by more than 80 faith-based organisations to UN Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen and Ambassador Peter Thomson, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean.

The declaration was created with input from the Anglican Communion UN team, as well as contributions from other faiths. It proclaimed the collective acknowledgement on behalf of people of faith of the responsibility of humanity to care for and protect aquatic ecosystems. It outlined key policy amendments and implementations that it supports, including protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030, ratification of the “high seas treaty” and the cessation of deep-sea mining.

Below is the statement from the multifaith group, Faiths for UNOC3:

Faith Leaders Deliver Ocean Declaration to UN and Reflect on UNOC3

Nice, France—As the third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) concludes in Nice, France, faith leaders were honored to join a powerful convergence of voices—from diplomats to scientists to Indigenous leaders—calling for urgent action to restore humanity’s relationship with the ocean. In a historic first, they hand-delivered Turning the Tide: A Multi-faith Declaration for the Ocean to UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen and Ambassador Peter Thomson, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean. Signed by over 80 faith-based institutions and conservation groups, it is the largest interfaith call to ocean protection and the first time such a declaration has been formally presented to the UN. As Inger Andersen affirmed after the meeting, “people of all faiths are unified in their calls for urgent, transformative action to save our ocean, with human rights centered in all ocean governance and conservation.” 

Voices from the Anglican Communion regarding the UN Oceans conference multifaith declaration

“As we move forward from UNOC3, we have to start living as real followers of Jesus–and it will cost us,” said Revd Glen Ruffle, Assistant Permanent Representative to the UN for the Anglican Communion. “The convenient flights, the plastic bottles, the shares in oil, the lack of interest in far-off sinking islands–these things have to end. Instead, we need to be marked by our radical love for our neighbours, near and far, and be willing to carry their suffering with them, united in caring for the oceans that sustain us all.”

“In all this, we take our lead from ocean communities, who see clearly the urgency of the climate change threat and are often the first to act,” said Martha Jarvis, Permanent Representative to the UN for the Anglican Communion. “Indigenous Anglicans from the Pacific have inspired others to rethink their relationship with the ocean–understanding it as water of life and hope, the lungs of our world–and to rethink the consumption and emission patterns that pollute it. We follow a God of reconciliation and it is our responsibility to reconcile the damage caused to God’s creation and to those who feel the consequences most acutely.” 

See the multifaith declaration here.

See quotes from other faith leaders about the multifaith declaration here.

View this short video to see people of diverse faith groups involved with ‘Faiths for UNOC3’ speak about our collective responsibility as stewards of creation.