The World Meteorological Organization and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that ocean acidification, driven by the absorption of 23 percent of human carbon dioxide emissions, has pushed ocean pH to its lowest levels in 26,000 years, threatening ecosystems and coastal communities. And yet, we continue to overlook one inconvenient truth: The ocean crisis is not just an environmental issue, it is a justice issue.

Coastal communities, especially women, youth and indigenous peoples in the Global South, bear the heaviest burdens. Nathan Bennett identifies 10 injustices in the ocean economy, including unequal access to marine resources, exclusion from decision-making, marginalization of women and human rights abuses. The root causes lie in institutional, regulatory, financial, capacity and social barriers, exacerbated by weak government commitment, resulting in systemic discrimination that undermines sustainable and equitable ocean governance.

This year’s Our Ocean Conference (OOC) in Busan, South Korea, comes at a time of both urgency and opportunity. As countries are rushing to meet their climate and SDG targets, the OOC is an important global platform to draw all stakeholders' attention to marginalized communities and mobilize support.

In this spirit, the Our Ocean Youth Leadership Summit convened 80 youths from 35 countries under the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, culminating in the Holistic Ocean Pledge (HOPE), a youth-led declaration calling for intergenerational justice, inclusive governance and community-driven ocean solutions.

Notably, women’s inclusion was spotlighted at a side event by the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative, featuring an all-women panel from coastal communities and NGOs to highlight women’s roles across the fisheries value chain. While other sessions focused on technology, policy or finance, this event introduced a much-needed gender lens to the conversation.

The OOC 2025 delivered 277 new commitments worth US$9.1 billion. However, many failed to center the needs of women, youth and indigenous peoples.

According to World Research Institute’s global stock take of the OOC’s commitments (2014 to 2024), only 5 percent (135) reference indigenous peoples, 3 percent (69) gender considerations and 3 percent (87) opportunities for youth. This shows that funding and commitments for them remain disproportionately small compared with their contributions.

This gap highlights a deeper issue: The benefits from marine wealth are neither fairly distributed nor sufficiently reinvested into the communities that protect them, when they significantly contribute to ocean protection, as illustrated below.

First, women at the frontlines of fisheries and environmental protection.

Women lead in environmental sustainability and community resilience, especially in climate-vulnerable coastal areas. In Indonesia, women make up 42 percent of the fisheries workforce and drive local economies. In the Philippines, Gina Barquilla leads as the municipal environment and natural resources officer (MENRO) of Del Carmen to combat illegal fishing. In the Sundarbans of Bangladesh, women-led cooperatives are cultivating mangrove nurseries and producing value-added goods. Similar stories unfold in Mexico, where a women-led community in Chelem restored over 100 hectares of mangroves by reviving natural waterways.

Second, youth are driving ocean and climate protection.

Looking through an intersectional lens highlights how young women are leading impactful initiatives addressing ecological challenges and social inequalities. In Indonesia, Marian Doucet manages a 24,000-hectare marine area in Banggai, Central Sulawesi, empowering women in sustainable fisheries, recycling and eco-tourism to enhance food security and coral reef conservation. In Malawi, Maria Kameta’s Mudzi Cooking Project has trained over 100 women to produce 24,000 eco-briquettes, cutting deforestation, health risks and firewood collection dangers. Similarly, in Kenya, Elizabeth Wathuti’s Green Generation Initiative has planted over 30,000 trees and advanced youth environmental education.

Third, indigenous knowledge and practices in ocean conservation.

In eastern Indonesia, sasi is an indigenous resource management practice involving seasonal closures of species or fishing areas to allow regeneration, lasting from six months to five years. Sasi supports sustainability and food security, as seen in haruku (lompa fish preservation) and aru (regulated sea cucumber harvesting generating up to Rp 200 million [$12,000] daily). While sasi was historically male-led, the Waifuna women’s group in Kapatcol, Raja Ampat, Southwest Papua became the first on Papua land to be granted full rights to manage a sasi area, expanding it to 215 ha by 2019.

These stories show that real ocean solutions come from those often excluded from decision-making. To live up to “Our Ocean, Our Action”, OOC must move from promises to inclusive, enforceable and justice-driven governance, amplifying historically marginalized voices. This is critical for coastal nations where natural wealth rarely ensures equitable prosperity.

Achieving ocean justice requires an intersectional lens that recognizes how gender, age, indigeneity and geography shape people’s connection with the ocean. The future of ocean governance must be built not only for but with those who have long protected it.

As we move from OOC toward the United Nations Ocean Conference 2025, we recommend three key actions.

First, institutionalizing meaningful participation of women, youth, indigenous peoples and coastal communities, especially from the Global South, within ocean governance, backed by clear government policies that prioritize marginalized coastal groups and uphold democracy and the rule of law.

Second, providing sustained funding and capacity-building support through diverse channels, such as business-to-business, people-to-people, government-to-government and people-to-business frameworks for communities on the frontlines of ocean protection.

Third, embedding intersectionality and Bennett’s 10 Blue Justice principles in ocean-climate policy frameworks.

The three measures can help ensure ocean governance is not only inclusive and equitable but also resilient and grounded in justice.

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The writers are program officers at the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative. The views expressed are personal.