New Climate Plans Put Unprecedented Focus on Ocean, but Miss Biggest Opportunities to Fight Warming

The ocean offers some of our most powerful opportunities to tackle climate change. Research shows that action across seven ocean sectors — from tourism to conservation to shipping — could provide over a third of the emissions cuts needed to reach global climate goals, while also supporting jobs, health and economic growth. These solutions are ready to implement and economically viable today.

Leaders increasingly recognize this. WRI analyzed new national climate commitments (known as “nationally determined contributions” or “NDCs”) submitted in 2025 by coastal and island nations. We found that more of these countries are incorporating ocean-based actions into their climate plans than ever before, marking a major step forward.

The State of Ocean-Based Climate Action in 2025 NDCs

This working paper provides a preliminary analysis of how countries are integrating ocean-based climate actions into the 2025 nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

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Yet a closer look reveals that the actions with the most potential to reduce emissions and generate new economic opportunity — including transitioning away from offshore oil and gas, decarbonizing shipping and aquatic food systems, and scaling up offshore renewable energy — are still missing from many countries’ commitments.

Closing these gaps will be critical. With the world already bumping up against 1.5 degrees C of warming and disasters rapidly intensifying, countries must pursue every avenue, including ocean-based solutions, to meet their climate goals.

Here, we explore six key trends that show where countries are focusing their ocean efforts — and where the biggest untapped opportunities lie.