Our Ocean Conference Closes With $6.4 Billion in Pledges and More Than 300 Commitments as Africa Takes Centre Stage

The 11th Our Ocean Conference closed in Mombasa, Kenya, on 18 June 2026 with more than 300 voluntary commitments and US$6.4 billion mobilised for ocean conservation across marine protected areas, fisheries monitoring, climate finance, and blue economy development, marking the first time the annual gathering has been held on the African continent. Host nation Kenya contributed more than 40 commitments backed by over US$1 billion in financing, while the conference produced significant MPA expansion pledges from Senegal, Indonesia, Tanzania, Brazil, and Portugal and saw 15 countries endorse the Mombasa Declaration on combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

 

Marine Protected Area Commitments and the 30 by 30 Race

 

With less than five years remaining to meet the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework target of protecting 30 percent of the world's oceans by 2030, the conference generated a substantial pipeline of new MPA commitments across multiple regions. Senegal announced it would double its MPA network by 2030, Indonesia committed to setting aside 7,000 square kilometres for new MPAs this year, and Tanzania pledged to establish a 2,500 square kilometre MPA in Kilwa district by 2028. Kenya and Tanzania jointly committed to establishing the Kwale-Tanga Transboundary Marine Conservation Area by 2028, conserving coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass habitats across a shared maritime boundary. Portugal announced the D. Carlos Marine Reserve spanning 173,000 square kilometres, which would raise its protected waters from 19 to 25 percent, and Brazil promised to expand its marine protected estate by 240,000 square kilometres over five years while also committing to pursue a high-seas MPA in the Southern Atlantic under the High Seas Treaty that entered into force in January 2026.

 

MPA Quality and the Effectiveness Gap

 

Alongside the expansion commitments, experts consistently called for strengthening existing protections rather than focusing solely on area targets. An analysis by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute released during the conference found that half of existing MPAs lack effective protections, with the report authors noting that the ambition of expanded marine conservation has outpaced the personnel, skillsets, and infrastructure required to make it real. Arthur Tuda, executive secretary of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association, described a growing focus on quality alongside quantity, while French Polynesia's commitment to bring more than 27,000 square kilometres of the Tainui Atea MPA under new fishing regulations and establish coastal protection zones illustrated what strengthening existing protections can look like in practice. The Marine Conservation Institute recognised six MPAs as Blue Parks during the conference for securing biodiversity gains in a durable fashion, four of them in African waters.

 

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IUU Fishing and Fisheries Governance

 

The Mombasa Declaration, endorsed by 15 countries with almost half from Africa, committed signatories to advancing global fisheries transparency and sharing vessel monitoring data to combat IUU fishing. Kenya, while not endorsing the declaration, announced it would install electronic monitoring devices in all industrial and semi-industrial fishing vessels operating in its national waters and introduce AIS tracking for small-scale fishers. The conference heard directly from Kenyan fishers including 64-year-old Twaha Mohammed Yussuf, who described opaque commercial fishing activities as having ruined coastal heritage and livelihoods, articulating in human terms the food security and livelihood stakes of the IUU challenge that the policy commitments are designed to address. A FAO report released at the conference warned that per capita fish availability in Africa, currently at 9.1 kilograms against a global average of 21.3 kilograms, is set to decline by 2034 despite growing total supply, underscoring the urgency of effective fisheries governance for food security across the continent.

 

Gaps, Absent Voices, and the Accountability Record

 

The Mombasa conference produced a total pledged amount substantially below the US$21 billion mobilised at the eighth edition in Panama in 2023, with pledged funds declining across successive editions. China, the world's largest seafood producer and operator of the largest distant-water fishing fleet, was conspicuously absent from discussions and commitments, as was meaningful US participation, with neither country entering new promises in the commitments report. Major West African coastal nations also made no new promises according to the preliminary roundup, prompting Fatou Ndoye of the Abidjan Convention to express disappointment at the limited ambition from the region. Against this backdrop, the conference launched a dedicated tracker for public disclosure of commitment progress and published audits of past pledges, finding that across all editions since 2014, approximately 85 percent of more than 3,200 commitments totalling US$176 billion have been fulfilled or are in progress. For Africa specifically, the fulfilment rate stands at approximately 78 percent, though less than half of the US$14.3 billion pledged for the continent has been delivered, with US$5.8 billion disbursed.