Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he wants Ireland to be a "leading nation" in global maritime policy.
He was speaking after he arrived in France to attend the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which is taking place in Nice until Friday.
Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, a landmark deal at COP21 that set targets to limit global warming, the world's oceans will take centre stage at UNOC3, which is being co-hosted by France and Costa Rica.
This week's event follows previous UN ocean conferences in New York in 2017 and Lisbon in 2022.
This evening, the Taoiseach will attend the inauguration of the conference's 'Green Zone', hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. More than 60 other world leaders will be in attendance.
Tomorrow, Mr Martin will take part in an event to launch the European Ocean Pact, jointly hosted by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Mr Macron.
The pact, adopted by the Commission last week, ties together a number of EU ocean policies under one framework and aims to help member states protect and restore maritime habitants.
The Taoiseach said the pact will prioritise maritime policy and cover areas such as sustainable economic activity in coastal communities and the development of renewable energies.
It also proposes a new European law on the oceans by 2027 to include legislation on combatting illegal fishing.
Later tomorrow, Mr Martin will deliver a statement on behalf of Ireland at the conference's main plenary session.
He added the pact will prioritise these areas as well as climate and biodiversity and will allow for further additional funding.
Mr Martin said that it is a huge boost to multilateralism to have that number of countries in attendance and that he hopes there will be consensus to enable a framework to protect the seas.
World leaders, UN bodies, climate activists, scientists, businesses and communities that rely on maritime environments to make their living are all taking part in what is being viewed as a crucial conference on the future of the world's oceans.
Many marine scientists are warning that the world’s oceans are nearing a point of no return.
Decades of plastic pollution, over-fishing, seabed mining, coral bleaching and climate change have threatened the existence of many marine species and the livelihoods of coastal communities, particularly in the Global South.
The world’s oceans produce half of all the globe’s oxygen and that more than three billion people rely on marine biodiversity to survive.
According to the UN, up to 12 million metric tonnes of plastics enter the ocean each year. That is the equivalent of a bin truck every minute.
Over 60% of marine ecosystems are already degraded and fishing stocks have plummeted since the 1970s.
Global fish stocks that are classified within safe biological limits have plunged from 90% in the 1970s to just over 62% in 2021.
Rising sea temperatures also pose a danger for maritime habitats. In April, global sea temperatures reached their second-highest levels ever.
While some of the worst cases of coral bleaching are currently affecting marine habitats in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and parts of the Pacific.
Li Junhua, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, who will act as Secretary-General of the conference has said that the world’s oceans are facing "an unprecedent crisis".
To date, there have been a number of non-binding declarations made by governments to protect ocean life but there is no single legal agreement to tie them all together.
A treaty on limiting marine plastic pollution is still in progress while a World Trade Organization agreement to preserve fish stocks has not yet been fully implemented.
In 2023, 21 countries ratified the so-called High Seas Treaty to protect marine life in international waters.
That number has now increased to 32, with eight European countries ratifying the treaty so far: France, Finland, Hungary, Spain, Latvia, Norway, Slovenia and Romania.
Ireland has signed the treaty but is yet to ratify it.
The treaty remains short of the 60 countries needed to implement it at UN level.
Representatives of national delegations who have already backed the treaty hope to get enough new signatories in Nice for it to enter into force.
Over the next five days in Nice, hundreds of new pledges are expected from governments.
Conference organisers hope that by Friday, countries will adopt the Nice Ocean Action Plan - a political declaration setting out the main pledges to accelerate action on the conservation and sustainable use of oceans.
While in Nice, Mr Martin will also take part in a number of bilateral meetings, including with the King of Jordan, Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley and former US Secretary of State John Kerry who also held a key climate portfolio during the Biden administration.
