Next our Ocean Conferene 2026, to take place in Kenya.

Kenya to take center stage in international negotiations on marine protection by hosting the next Our Ocean Conference 2026. The conference, which has been held annually since 2014, is based on six thematic areas:

• marine protected areas,
• sustainable blue economy,
• climate change,
• maritime security,
• sustainable fisheries,
• marine pollution,

and since its inception it has produced more than 2,600 international commitments.
These include Greece’s 21 commitments, among which are the achievement of the 30X30 goal and the ban on bottom  trawling in marine protected areas.
With this decision, which was officially announced at the Conference of the Parties in Belém, Kenya will become the first African country to host this international conference.
This decision is important as it can give the necessary emphasis to local needs and specificities, such as resilience and adaptability to the consequences of the climate crisis, but also the impacts that the international market can have on local communities of the global south, particularly with regards to overfishing.

Taking the above into account, the upcoming conference will tackle issues such as:

• enhancing youth participation in the blue economy,
• marine protection and the 30X30 target,
• cooperation to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Guided by the theme “Our Ocean, Our Heritage, Our Future,” the conference will focus on the importance of the ocean for culture, community identities, and survival.