Dai Minhan is Chair Professor of Marine Environmental Science at Xiamen University, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a council member at the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED). Within CCICED, Dai co-leads the council’s Special Policy Study on “Sustainable Blue Economy Under the Vision of Carbon Neutrality.”

Dai joined us to share his views on oceans and sustainable development ahead of the 2025 UN Ocean Conference, which will be held in Nice, France, from June 9 to 13.

What are your expectations for the 2025 UN Oceans Conference?

The 2025 UN Ocean Conference will be a pivotal moment for global ocean action, with climate change and human pressures on the ocean at critical levels.

The Conference must foreground rigorous, science-based decision making to protect the ocean’s role as both a climate regulator and a foundation for livelihoods. Clear scientific targets can accelerate progress toward carbon neutrality and Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14), which aims to “conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas, and marine resources.”

Solutions at scale will only be possible if governments, industries, finance, civil society, and academia work together. We need more than agreements—we need implementation partnerships. The Conference should be a platform to explore such partnerships.

My last point is about timing. The Conference will begin charting a more ambitious and integrated global ocean strategy for the post-2030 era. This requires a roadmap and committed leadership to carry it forward.

CCICED’s Special Policy Study team for Oceans is organizing a side event at the 2025 UN Oceans Conference. What is the objective of this event？

The event, titled “Sustainable Blue Economy in the Vision of Carbon Neutrality,” will explore how ocean governance can be transformed by integrating solid science, equitable finance, and collaboration of different sectors. The discussion will be anchored in three core messages.

Marine industries need to be upgraded for sustainability. The ocean economy must shift from heavy resource use to low-carbon, nature-positive models. We will present a report for how China can achieve that transition across shipping, aquaculture, renewable energy, and coastal tourism.

The funding gap for SDG 14 has to be addressed; it remains the least funded of the global goals. We will showcase new blue finance tools that can mainstream the ocean into climate and development agendas, moving it from the periphery to the centre of investment flows.

In addition, science-driven, cross-sector solutions and governance need to be championed. The event will highlight practical ways to base policy, finance, and on-the-water implementation on scientific insight.

What progress has China made on creating a sustainable blue economy in line with its carbon-neutrality goal?

China’s ocean economy has grown rapidly, with gross ocean product doubling from roughly RMB 5 trillion (around USD 680 billion) in 2012 to about RMB 10 trillion (around USD 1.35 trillion) in 2024—now contributing close to 8% of national gross domestic product.

China leads the world in offshore wind capacity, demonstrating that large-scale marine renewables can support both climate and economic goals. China is also moving ahead on blue-carbon projects. Restoration and cultivation of mangrove, seagrass, and seaweed is laying the ground for an ocean-based carbon market. A shift toward greening our maritime supply chains is also underway, including expanding the electrification of ports and so-called “cold-ironing”—electrical charging of boats while they are docking.

This progress has been made possible because of an increase in science-based policies.

“The 2025 UN Oceans Conference must foreground science-based decision making to protect the ocean’s role as both a climate regulator and a foundation for livelihoods.”

What do you see as China’s key challenges ahead on sustainable blue economy?

We have a few major challenges to take on. Traditional marine sectors—such as shipping, coastal manufacturing, and near-shore aquaculture—still rely heavily on fossil fuels and resource-intensive practices. Deep decarbonization policies with clear transition timelines are needed. We also have to increase investment in the sustainable blue economy. Here, blue finance taxonomies and mechanisms to blend public and private finance are essential.

In addition, we need a more integrated ocean and climate governance. Coordination across sectors and ministries, including through data-sharing platforms, is required.

Finally, we need better measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV). Reliable MRV systems for blue-carbon projects and shipping are still nascent, which is an obstacle to attracting investment.

What policy measures does your team propose for China to tackle these challenges effectively?

First, embed the sustainable blue economy approach across top-level policy and planning, including national strategies and the 15th Five-Year Plan.

Second, establish a blue finance pipeline with environmental sustainability criteria in project screening, approval, and monitoring for all marine-related sectors (infrastructure, energy, shipping, blue food).

Third, modernize offshore aquaculture governance with an ecosystem-based ocean approach that takes impacts across the full value chain into account and integrates local stakeholder input.

Fourth, prioritize marine renewables for carbon neutrality. Accelerate offshore wind, solar, wave and tidal energy, and green hydrogen production—especially in strategic coastal hubs. Underline the sector’s contribution to China’s national carbon-reduction targets and connect offshore green energy infrastructure with ports, data cables, and aquaculture platforms to achieve economies of scale.

What are the priorities for global oceans governance this year?

2025 is both a milestone and a fresh start for ocean governance. Multiple international events and agreements are converging, offering an exceptional window to reshape how we steward the sea.

The UN Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, which covers the 61% of the ocean that lies outside national exclusive economic zones, will enter into force once 60 countries ratify it—a threshold likely to be reached by the third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC 3) in June 2025. France and Costa Rica, as UNOC 3 co-hosts, aim to make that moment a historic step forward for protecting high-seas biodiversity.

Meanwhile, the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies will enter Phase 2 of negotiations, tackling fuel rebates, vessel-building support, and other incentives that drive overcapacity, and we will hopefully see a robust agreement on the Global Plastics Treaty following last year’s slowdown in negotiations.

The International Seabed Authority’s 30th session in 2025 could also determine whether commercial deep-sea mining proceeds under precautionary, science-based rules or is postponed amid unresolved ecological and governance concerns.

How do these priorities align with China’s domestic oceans agenda, as outlined above?

China’s emerging ocean agenda dovetails increasingly with the world’s most urgent priorities—biodiversity protection, climate action, and a sustainable blue economy. As a major maritime nation, China can play a leadership role.

China should champion the sustainable blue economy. By embedding clear sustainable blue economy principles into national plans and practices, with low-carbon ports, ecological aquaculture, and offshore-renewable hubs, China can be an inspiration other coastal states can replicate.

China’s development banks, green bond market, and Belt and Road initiative can be mobilized to crowd in international capital for marine conservation, pollution control, and habitat restoration—areas chronically under-funded worldwide.

By aligning national targets with the Paris Agreement and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, China can also show the way on integrating climate, biodiversity, and ocean goals into domestic policy—signalling that ocean-based mitigation, adaptation, and conservation are mutually reinforcing.

You are working with an international team for this Special Policy Study. What lessons can China learn from other countries?

Key lessons we have drawn from international best practice include the importance of inclusive, community-based and transparent governance.

Many countries have consolidated ocean authorities and ocean management laws that align conservation, development, and enforcement. In addition, models that empower local fishers, coastal communities, and Indigenous Peoples have proved vital for sustainable resource use and social equity.

“Prioritize marine renewables for carbon neutrality. Accelerate offshore wind, solar, wave and tidal energy, and green hydrogen production—especially in strategic coastal hubs.”

What innovations can China share with the international community?

The first that comes to mind is offshore renewables and green ports. China leads the world in installed offshore wind capacity and has piloted shore power.

Another area where China is at the forefront is spatial planning for maritime aquaculture. Ecosystem-based guidelines have allowed intensive aquaculture to expand while reducing conflicts with conservation areas and shipping lanes. In addition, China’s mangrove, seagrass, and salt-marsh projects—some of the largest globally—illustrate how nature-based solutions can deliver both climate mitigation and coastal resilience.

Finally, by embedding ocean targets into successive national Five-Year Plans, China has a durable, top-down mechanism that aligns ministries, budgets, and performance indicators—an approach many countries find instructive.

In order to achieve a carbon-neutral blue economy, in line with China’s 2060 carbon-neutrality target, how do you suggest ocean scientific research should be strengthened?

Echoing the UN Ocean Decade vision—“the science we need for the ocean we want”—China must greatly expand and refocus its ocean researching in four strategic directions.

First: designing ocean-based mitigation solutions. We need to intensify research and development on low-carbon shipping fuels, offshore renewables, and circular aquaculture systems that curb life-cycle emissions.

Second: quantifying and monetizing blue-carbon ecosystems. We need to refine national standards for MRV of carbon sequestration in mangroves, seagrass meadows, salt marshes, and seaweed farms. Embed these metrics in carbon markets so that conservation and restoration projects can earn tradable credits and attract private finance.

Third: embedding climate science in marine planning. We need to incorporate sea-level-rise projections, extreme weather risk, and ecosystem services into marine authorities’ zoning decisions for ports, aquaculture, tourism, and offshore energy.

Fourth: building data infrastructure. We need to expand observing networks—buoys, gliders, satellites—and open­-access data portals to deliver the information needed for climate-smart decisions.

Through stronger partnerships with international research programs and more sharing of best practices, we will be able to train a new generation of cross-disciplinary ocean scientists that can rise to the complex climate, development, and economic challenges ocean governance will pose in the decades to come.

The views expressed are those of the interviewee and not necessarily those of CCICED.