International Cooperation

Since 2011, OceanCare holds Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). This status confers the right to engage within the UN system and speak on important aspects on environmental and marine issues.

OceanCare has participated at consultative meetings of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) since 2004 and raises awareness about multiple threats to the oceans and emerging challenges in marine conservation.

In 2015, OceanCare was accredited as observer within the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its governing body (United Nations Environment Assembly, UNEA). The UN Environment Programme plays a leading role in global environmental protection and is the only United Nations organisation that deals exclusively with the environment. With its consistently science-based approach, OceanCare is an important voice within the Science and Technology Major Group.

OceanCare has been part of the UN Environment Programme's Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) since 2014. This global network of government agencies, NGOs, scientific experts, representatives of the private sector and civil society develops solutions to reduce marine plastic pollution.

OceanCare was accredited to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2023. UNFCCC is an international environmental agreement with the aim of stopping the human-made climate crisis, slowing global warming and mitigating its consequences.

In 2019, OceanCare became a partner organisation of the UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan, a framework agreement that addresses marine environmental hazards and coordinates the Barcelona Convention as the legal basis for protecting the Mediterranean Sea from pollution.

Since 2017, OceanCare has been involved in conferences of the parties to the Abidjan Convention, which is concerned with the state of the oceans and coastal areas in West, Central and Southern Africa and the protection of endangered marine animals from poaching.

OceanCare has been a partner organisation of the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area (ACCOBAMS) since 2004 and contributes its expertise in the areas of species conservation, underwater noise, plastic pollution and bycatch. OceanCare President Sigrid Lüber is co-chair of the CMS, ACCOBAMS and ASCOBANS joint noise working group.

The Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the North and Baltic Seas, the North-East Atlantic and the Irish Sea (ASCOBANS) looks after all toothed whale species found in these areas, with the exception of the sperm whale. OceanCare President Sigrid Lüber is co-chair of the CMS, ACCOBAMS and ASCOBANS joint noise working group.

In 2021, OceanCare achieved observer status at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and can contribute its expertise in the area of underwater noise and the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

CMS is part of the United Nations Environment Programme and is dedicated to the protection of migratory species. OceanCare has been a partner organisation since 2016 and is committed to the protection of marine animals and the marine habitat. OceanCare President Sigrid Lüber is co-chair of the Underwater Noise Working Group of CMS, ACCOBAMS and ASCOBANS.

Since 2014, OceanCare has been a member of the working group for the implementation of the new Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), which obliges European countries bordering the sea to improve the state of the marine environment in their territorial waters. From 2017 to 2020, OceanCare President Sigrid Lüber was part of quietMED's external advisory body, which focussed on noise reduction in the Mediterranean. Since 2021, she has been a member of the external advisory body of QUIETSEAS, a programme that supports EU countries in preventing underwater noise. Dr Lindy Weilgart and Nicolas Entrup are members of the EU technical working group on underwater noise.

As part of the International Ocean Noise Coalition, OceanCare has been working within the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) since 2009 to ensure that the socio-economic impacts of ocean noise pollution on fish stocks and fisheries are investigated.

OceanCare has been a partner organisation of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) since 2016 and contributes its expertise in the areas of underwater noise, bycatch, plastic pollution, governance and illegal fishing activities. In 2021, GFCM, in cooperation with OceanCare, implemented a socio-economic pilot study on the impact of noise on fish stocks and fisheries.

In 2021, OceanCare was accredited as an observer organisation by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). The ISA manages mineral resources as the heritage of mankind and is the relevant body on deep-sea mining.

OceanCare has been campaigning for the protection of whales as an observer at the meetings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) since 1992.

Since 2024, OceanCare is an accredited Observer to the London Convention/London Protocol (LC/LP). The London Protocol controls marine pollution by prohibiting the disposal of wastes at sea.