The vice-president of the organising committee, Alexandre Leitão, said in a meeting with journalists that he was "extremely optimistic" about the conference which will take place from June 27 to July 1".

In the United Nations resolution on the 2022 Ocean Conference, it is determined that "by consensus", a declaration "short, concise, action-oriented and negotiated between governments" must be approved, which points out solutions to achieve the dedicated Sustainable Development Goal for the oceans (SDG14).

For the president of the Oceano Azul foundation, Tiago Pitta e Cunha, it is about taking the oceans out of the "dead spot" and putting them in the discussion on the environment and climate change, which will involve, for example, the conclusion of a treaty for the protection of biodiversity on the high seas later this year and for the consecration of at least 30 percent of the oceans as protected areas by the end of this decade.

He stressed that in the 2015 Paris agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in which almost all countries in the world agreed to limit global warming by the end of the century, the oceans had "a word in the preamble" and that in the final text of COP26, which took place last year in Glasgow, the word "ocean" appears "four times in ten pages".

Loss of oxygen, overfishing and rising temperatures are making the oceans more acidic and inhospitable to millions of living beings that inhabit them and also impacting human beings, highlights the conference organisation.

Without giving any specific commitments, which will be negotiated in advance, Alexandre Leitão said that "between 20 and 25" heads of State and Government have already confirmed their presence at the conference, as well as ministerial representatives from 35 countries, noting that four weeks before the start, there is still "immense time" for further confirmations.

For now, it is known that representatives from 193 countries will come and that 938 civil society entities have already registered, including 75 foundations and 74 universities.