NICE (France) — France is hosting world leaders this week to confront what the United Nations calls a global “emergency” in the oceans — but what is expected, and can the summit make a difference?

There is pressure on the UN Ocean Conference starting tomorrow in Nice to show that countries can unite and deliver more than just talk for the world’s ailing and neglected seas.

Plundered parks

Several countries are expected to announce the creation of new marine conservation zones within their national waters, though how protected they really are will come under scrutiny.

Some countries impose next to no rules on what is forbidden or permitted in marine zones. France and other EU states, for example, allow bottom trawling, a damaging fishing practice, in protected waters.

This means just three per cent of oceans are considered truly safe from exploitation, far short of a global target to place 30 per cent under conservation by 2030.