Against the stunning backdrop of the Regatta of Boats, the symbolic flag raising ceremony will invite the global ocean community as well as the public in Nice to celebrate this year’s UN WOD theme, “Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us.”

Worldwide, organisations and community groups will host events, exhibitions and campaigns to shine a light on the importance of healthy oceans.

The ocean covers over 70 percent of the planet. It is our life source, supporting humanity’s sustenance and that of every other organism on earth.

The ocean produces at least 50 percent of the planet’s oxygen, it is home to most of earth’s biodiversity, and is the main source of protein for more than a billion people around the world.

Not to mention, the ocean is key to the global economy with an estimated 40 million people employed by ocean-based industries.

The ocean is in need of our support. According to the United Nations, with 90 percent of big fish populations have been depleted, and 50 percent of coral reefs destroyed, we are taking more from the ocean than can be replenished.

We need to work together to create a new balance with the ocean that no longer depletes its bounty but instead restores its vibrancy and brings it new life.

“Wonder: Sustaining what sustains us” is the theme for World Oceans Day 2025, a year marked by the UN Decade of Ocean Science and the celebration of the World Ocean Conference.

With this new vision, the day celebrates the wonder that the ocean inspires in us: its beauty, its mystery, and its vital role in our lives and on the planet. This day reminds us of our deep connection with the sea and calls for its protection through decisions guided by curiosity, wisdom, and a commitment to collective well-being.

As the UN explains on its dedicated site, “Wonder is the foundation of scientific knowledge, the allure behind exploration, the curiosity that drives innovation, and the seed of traditional wisdom.

“In the face of increasingly daunting challenges, the act of wondering serves to remind us that we are part of something bigger.

“Wondering wakes us up to our inherent connection to the earth and to each other, expands our understanding of what is possible, empowers innovation and prioritises decision-making for collective well-being.

“This World Oceans Day, we celebrate the ocean’s essential wonder from all of the wonders it consists of to the wonder it ignites, and call on decision-makers to not lose sight the ocean’s wonder when determining its fate.”

unworldoceansday.org