World leaders head to France for UN summit on ocean threats

World leaders descend on the French Riviera on Sunday ahead of a high-level summit to tackle a deepening crisis in the oceans driven by overfishing, climate change and pollution.

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The United Nations says oceans face an “emergency” and leaders gathering in Nice will be under pressure to commit much-needed money and stronger protections for the ailing seas and the people that depend on them.

The UN Ocean Conference must try to turn a corner as nations feud over deep-sea mining, plastic litter and exploitative fishing, against a backdrop of wider geopolitical tensions.

Some 50 heads of state and government are expected to attend, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Argentine counterpart Javier Milei.

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to sail to Nice from Monaco, where he is attending a related event aimed at raising private capital for ocean conservation.

He will be joined on the shimmering Mediterranean Sea by other vessels in a colorful maritime parade, before touring an exhibition center on land transformed into the cavernous belly of a whale.

That evening, Macron will host leaders for a dinner of Mediterranean fish ahead of the summit’s formal opening on Monday.